Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Law Redrawing Congressional Maps

3 hours ago

US Air Force will Offer Military Funeral Honors to Slain Capitol Rioter

5 hours ago

US Republican Senator Joni Ernst Will Not Run for Re-Election, CBS News Reports

6 hours ago

Wall Street Falls as Dell, Nvidia Drive Tech Losses

6 hours ago

US Denies Visas to Palestinian Officials Ahead of UN General Assembly

8 hours ago

Minneapolis Children Revealed Courage, Absorbed Fear During Church Shooting

1 day ago

Ford Recalls Nearly 500,000 Vehicles Over Brake Fluid Leak

1 day ago

Fresno-Bound Passenger Says Delta Attendant Slapped Him, Seeks $20M

1 day ago
Church Vandalism Exposes Divisions Over Faith and Politics
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
December 15, 2020

Share

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.

Mills also underscored that she didn’t “want to make this into a political statement” and said her intention was to “move us all to greater healing and to more of a commitment to building a beloved community where all are welcome.” The church plans a Thursday prayer service to help foster unity and healing, she said.

The nearby Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church reported that vandals slashed a banner printed with colors supporting LGBTQ rights and rejecting “acts of hate or violence” against others, pastor Donna Claycomb Sokol said.

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.

The Tearing Down of Black Lives Matter Signs Came After Pro-Trump Demonstrations

“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.

Police in Washington are seeking public help in identifying suspects in the defacements, with the FBI’s Washington field office also offering a reward for those who aid the investigation.

Some members of the affected churches noted the contrast between the vocal Christian response to property destruction during protests against racial injustice this summer and the comparatively quieter pushback now.

“When evangelicals can speak on behalf of unborn babies, can speak on behalf of law and order when it comes to white people and white property, but are silent when it comes to banners that proclaim ‘Black lives matter,’ the moral silence is stupefying,” said Cornell William Brooks, former president of the NAACP and a member of Metropolitan A.M.E.

“We’ve gone from having to say ‘Black lives matter’ to now having to say ‘Black churches matter,’” added Brooks, a professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School graduate program.

The Episcopal bishop of Washington, who criticized Trump during the summer’s racial inequality protests after protesters were forcibly cleared in order for him to stage a visit to a fire-damaged church, issued a statement Monday with the dean of the Washington National Cathedral decrying the recent church vandalism as well as “the racist and religious overtones surrounding the effort to discredit the presidential election.” One pro-Trump rally on Saturday counted several religious conservatives as headliners.

Stopping Short of Fully Acknowledging Trump’s Election Loss

Some pro-Trump conservative evangelicals criticized the church vandalism, while describing it as part of a broader trend that has marked a year of heightened political tensions.

Johnnie Moore, president of The Congress of Christian Leaders and an evangelical adviser to the administration, said that “we must put extremists on the far right and the far left on notice that these acts stop now.”

“Whether it’s synagogues in Portland, Los Angeles, or Kenosha, a Catholic shrine in Southern California, or historic — especially historically Black — churches in Washington, D.C. — America’s places of worship must never be targeted in any form, whatsoever, by violent extremists,” Moore said by email.

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, an evangelical leader who has advised Trump, said in a statement that “there is quite a difference between a movement driven by righteousness and justice, truth and love, and a movement driven by chaos, describing attacks on houses of worship as “a clear, unbridled depiction of the true agenda behind many of these so-called ‘movements.’”

While stopping short of fully acknowledging Trump’s election loss, several top evangelical conservatives have refrained from echoing the harsh rhetoric that the president directed toward President-elect Joe Biden during the hard-fought campaign.

White House spokesman Judd Deere said by email that “President Trump condemns violence in all forms and any group that expounds hate and bigotry.”

Cameron French, a Biden-Harris transition official said in a statement that places of worship are sacred spaces and protected under the law and “acts that target these places because of their views, are unacceptable and undermine our work to build a more perfect union.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Curtis Wayne Recek

DON'T MISS

Fresno Area Schools Prep for Football With Stout Security Measures

DON'T MISS

Fresno Blaze Damages Yosemite Falls Café, Restaurant to Remain Closed

DON'T MISS

Florida Man Indicted for Fentanyl Smuggling Scheme Using Drones

DON'T MISS

Egypt Rounds up Teenaged TikTokkers in Crackdown on Social Media

DON'T MISS

Fresno Shelter Helps Homeless Recover from Hospital Stays. It’s Also a ‘Good Neighbor’

DON'T MISS

Drive-Thru Debate Heats Up at Fresno City Council Meeting

DON'T MISS

Judge Blocks Enforcement of Texas Law Restricting DEI and ESG Advice

DON'T MISS

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Law Redrawing Congressional Maps

DON'T MISS

Trump Cancels $4.9 Billion in Foreign Aid, Escalating Spending Fight with Congress

UP NEXT

US Republican Senator Joni Ernst Will Not Run for Re-Election, CBS News Reports

UP NEXT

Trump Moves to Permanently Cancel Funding in Rare Move Around Congress

UP NEXT

US Denies Visas to Palestinian Officials Ahead of UN General Assembly

UP NEXT

Trump Ends Security Protection for Former Vice President Harris, Senior White House Official Says

UP NEXT

Trump Signs Order to End Collective Bargaining With Some Federal Unions

UP NEXT

Minneapolis Children Revealed Courage, Absorbed Fear During Church Shooting

UP NEXT

Trump Signs Memo to Prevent Federal Grants From Being Diverted to Lobbying, White House Says

UP NEXT

Fresno vs. Clovis: Which City Is Cheaper to Live in Right Now?

UP NEXT

White House Fires Member of Railroad-Regulating Surface Transportation Board

UP NEXT

In Chicago, Locals Prepare for Trump’s Possible Deployment of National Guard

Florida Man Indicted for Fentanyl Smuggling Scheme Using Drones

37 minutes ago

Egypt Rounds up Teenaged TikTokkers in Crackdown on Social Media

41 minutes ago

Fresno Shelter Helps Homeless Recover from Hospital Stays. It’s Also a ‘Good Neighbor’

2 hours ago

Drive-Thru Debate Heats Up at Fresno City Council Meeting

2 hours ago

Judge Blocks Enforcement of Texas Law Restricting DEI and ESG Advice

2 hours ago

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Law Redrawing Congressional Maps

3 hours ago

Trump Cancels $4.9 Billion in Foreign Aid, Escalating Spending Fight with Congress

4 hours ago

U.S. News Releases Best High School Rankings. How Did Fresno Schools Do?

4 hours ago

Trump Ends Security Protection for Former Vice President Harris

4 hours ago

Fresno Labor Day Traffic Alert for Motorists Using Maroa Avenue

4 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Curtis Wayne Recek

August 29, 2025 Most Wanted Person of the Day Suspect Name: Curtis Wayne Recek Suspects Date of Birth: April 22, 1966 Physical Description: ...

6 minutes ago

Curtis Wayne Recek is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for August 29, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
6 minutes ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Curtis Wayne Recek

23 minutes ago

Fresno Area Schools Prep for Football With Stout Security Measures

Fire at Yosemite Falls Cafe on Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (Fresno FD)
28 minutes ago

Fresno Blaze Damages Yosemite Falls Café, Restaurant to Remain Closed

The seal of the U.S. Justice Department is seen on the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (Reuters File)
37 minutes ago

Florida Man Indicted for Fentanyl Smuggling Scheme Using Drones

Abdulrahman Hisham, 20, an Egyptian social media content creator, looks at his page with several videos, amid a wave of cases prompting Egypt to consider tighter regulations on social media platforms at his residence in n Cairo, Egypt August, 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
41 minutes ago

Egypt Rounds up Teenaged TikTokkers in Crackdown on Social Media

2 hours ago

Fresno Shelter Helps Homeless Recover from Hospital Stays. It’s Also a ‘Good Neighbor’

A Dutch Bros Coffee employee takes customers drink orders at cars lined up at a drive-thru.
2 hours ago

Drive-Thru Debate Heats Up at Fresno City Council Meeting

2 hours ago

Judge Blocks Enforcement of Texas Law Restricting DEI and ESG Advice

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend