Pastor Of Black Church Vandalized After Pro-Trump Rally Hopes More Christians Speak Up huffpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from huffpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Print article WASHINGTON Vandalism at four downtown Washington churches after rallies in support of President Donald Trump is exposing rifts among people of faith as the nation confronts bitter post-election political divisions. Among the damaged houses of worship were two historically Black churches where people ripped down Black Lives Matter banners, with video posted to social media showing one banner being burned. Those defacements – which are being investigated as possible hate crimes, according to the police – raised questions among some clergy and churchgoers about why more fellow Christians were not speaking out against the incidents. The Rev. Dr. Ianther Mills, senior pastor at Asbury United Methodist Church, issued a statement Sunday likening the torched banner to a cross burning and said Monday that she hopes more evangelical Christians condemn the destruction.
Churches vandalized after Trump rally Why no evangelical outcry? csmonitor.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from csmonitor.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
She added that the episode at her church was “incredibly minor compared with what happened to our neighbors” and urged that attention be paid to the damage at Asbury and Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, both historically Black institutions.
“People need to denounce it and call it an act of racial violence,” Claycomb Sokol said. “People who have been really quick to be silent need to wrestle with what actually took place on our streets on Saturday, and how silence can actually be a sign of support, of complicity.”
The tearing down of Black Lives Matter signs came after pro-Trump demonstrations in the capital that attracted a sizable number of Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group prone to violent encounters. The protests were planned to bolster the president’s claims of election irregularities, although the absence of widespread election fraud has been confirmed by a range of officials nationwide, including Attorney General William Barr.
Elana Schor
FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020, file photo, with the U.S. Capitol building in the background, supporters of President Donald Trump stand along Pennsylvania Avenue during a rally at Freedom Plaza, in Washington. Vandalism at four downtown Washington churches after rallies in support of Trump are exposing rifts among people of faith as the nation confronts bitter post-election political divisions. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez, File) December 15, 2020 - 12:04 PM
WASHINGTON - Vandalism at four downtown Washington churches after rallies in support of President Donald Trump is exposing rifts among people of faith as the nation confronts bitter post-election political divisions.