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Police in New York City are looking for a Pride-flag-carrying suspect accused of defacing three churches with “anti-Christian statements” during a 20-minute hate crime spree last month.
The suspect, who was also wearing a rainbow face covering and pushing a bicycle, first vandalized the Refuge Church of Christ in Far Rockaway, Queens, at around 1:40 a.m. on Oct. 5, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) said. Far Rockaway is the southernmost neighborhood in the borough of Queens.
Minutes later, the rainbow-clad suspect allegedly tagged the neighboring City of Oasis Church of Deliverance with more anti-Christian graffiti, police said. Both churches are on Mott Avenue.
In a security video released by the NYPD, the suspect was captured scrawling “anti-gay cult” in black paint on the façade of one of the churches. The New York Post, citing sources, reported that that video was taken from the Refuge Church of Christ.
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At about 2 a.m., the suspect spray-painted “Welcome Cult Members” and “cult” on the walls and sidewalks outside St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church on New Haven Avenue, according to the Post.
The suspect also defaced two religious statues, painting over their faces, police said.
Police said the person is wanted in connection with multiple acts of criminal mischief as a hate crime and the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is investigating.
Father Francis Shannon, who has been a priest at St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church for more than eight years, said he was saddened to learn of the graffiti.
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“It was really heartbreaking learning about the vandalism. I was at my mother’s house, and as soon as it happened, I got sent pictures,” Shannon, 67, told the Post. “So when I woke up, I saw them, and it was just really sad.”
“I think this is more of a statement than a hate crime, just anti-institution kind of stuff,” he said.
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Shannon said he doesn’t believe the graffiti reflects the broader LGBTQ community and urged the vandal to talk out their frustrations instead of acting out.
“I don’t think this is a big part of the LGBTQ movement since he had the flag. I think he’s just the exception,” Shannon said. “I just think he needs to talk it out and not act on it with violence.”
