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ST PAUL, Minn. — When Edward Dieter's Ring Doorbell woke him up back on June 6, he was startled to discover a man with a bandana over his face, holding a knife and messing with the storm door on his porch.

"We were in bed, but I have my phone," Dieter said. "I think I said, 'Can I help you?' I was concerned and confused."

Dieter's video of the incident showed the man freeze and then walk away, but St. Paul Police say that the incident helped lead to the arrest of 23-year-old George Thomas Floyd.

Now — more than four months later — Floyd has been charged with a much wider spree of vandalism and property damage that targeted pride flags and other progressive yard signs and displays in St. Paul throughout June.

"We've connected close to 30 incidents," said Commander Jim Yang. "The total damage is upwards of $19,000 combined."

Dieter, who had a "We Will Not Obey in Advance" (an anti-tyranny message) sign on his door, said he didn't share his Ring video with police until after seeing the widespread vandalism and similar videos from neighbors, which depicted a man with similar shoes and a distinctive knife sheath on his belt.

"We thought, man, maybe this is the same guy," he said.

That hunch helped lead to the arrest of Floyd back in July. During a traffic stop, officers reportedly noticed his necklace and clothes looked like the ones in Dieter's video.

According to court documents, when they searched his home a day later, they found the clothing and the knife, prompting an initial felony charge of possession of burglary tools.

Those newly filed charges reveal a search of Floyd's phone "recovered a trove of evidence" allegedly linking him to much more.

"He was taking photos of the evidence that he destroyed and also communicated with people regarding his criminal activity," Yang said. "In a way, he was bragging about what he did."

According to the complaint, on June 6 — the night of the incident at Dieter's home — Floyd sent someone a photo and message describing a pride flag in the sewage drain, allegedly adding, "I peed on it after the photo was taken."

According to the complaint, when later asked if he was destroying American Flags, he allegedly responded, "The American flag is a neutral position and I'm not attacking neutral people."

"It was sort of shocking, and it seemed odd for the neighborhood," said Mary Grant, a barista at JS Bean Factory in St Paul, which was among two businesses and a school that had windows where pride flags and displays were visible. "It's disheartening for sure. It's just sad when people turn to hate."

It's why she's relieved the alleged crimes now appear connected, and grateful they've better connected the community in the process.

"Honestly, I mean kind of props to him because he gave us a little bit more business, you know what I mean?" Grant said. "I'm glad that that was the response from the neighborhood, though, and especially other visibly queer people coming into the shop and saying, 'Hey, we support you; we want to be part of this community. We know you guys are safe, and we're so sorry that that happened to you.' It was wonderful."

"I hope he learned a lesson," Dieter said.

Though Floyd apparently lives just a few blocks down from Dieter's home, he says he hopes the entire community can move forward.

"I hope we can have dialogue rather than actions like this," he said. "We're a very divided country in many ways right now, and so people are gonna hold all kinds of opinions," he added. "I can't worry about everybody's opinions. I can only stand up for what I believe in."

In response to the charges filed against Floyd, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi told KARE 11:

"Solving crimes like this are so important for any community, and that’s why we are lucky that the Saint Paul Police Department is so good at it.

SPPD investigators easily spent over 500 hours on this investigation to bring this case to justice. When social or political views of any kind lead to violence or infringes on another’s property rights, it crosses the line and will not be tolerated in Ramsey County.

We will do everything in our power to hold the accused accountable and work with investigators to seek possible aggravating factors in the sentencing of this case to incorporate allegations of bias motivation."