Threats, vandalism and the First Amendment: Loogootee community divided by LGBTQ Pride display

LOOGOOTEE — Last summer, Kayla Whaley had to wait for local law enforcement to arrive before she could sweep up the shattered glass from her living room floor.

A brick had just sailed through her window, disrupting Whaley and her partner's quiet movie night. It lay amid the glass shards. 

That was only the first brick thrown that night. A few hours after the police had taken note of the damages and left, more bricks struck the house's exterior. While the police didn't catch the assailant, Whaley remembers how the nearby cornfield rustled with faint movement, this seemingly invisible enemy quickening the kicking drumbeat of her heart. 

For Whaley, it felt like her home, once a safe haven, was now under siege. This fear only solidified when Whaley's car was struck with bricks in their driveway a few days later.

Fearing for her family's safety, Whaley adopted a "Clint Eastwood"-type persona, puffing out her chest and investigating her property whenever their new surveillance equipment picked up any motion.