Authorities are attempting to identify an unknown individual who vandalized three New York City churches while carrying an LGBT pride flag.
The New York Police Department Crime Stoppers posted a request for tips on its social media platforms on Wednesday regarding an individual who vandalized three churches in Far Rockaway, a neighborhood of Queens, on Oct. 5.
According to Crime Stoppers, from around 1:40 a.m. to 2 a.m., the masked individual vandalized The Refuge Church of Christ, The City of Oasis Church of Deliverance, and St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church.
The suspect painted “anti-Christian statements” on the façades of the three churches, and painted “the faces of two religious statues on the church property” at St. Mary’s.
Video footage shows an individual carrying an LGBT pride flag on a pole, while also donning a rainbow-colored facemask, black clothes and sunglasses.
“The New York City Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the individual depicted in the attached media who is wanted in connection with multiple acts of criminal mischief as a hate crime that occurred within the confines of the 101 Precinct,” noted Crime Stoppers.
The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the vandalism.
The Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, which includes churches in both Brooklyn and Queens, released a statement in response to the vandalism at St. Mary’s.
“The Diocese of Brooklyn is grateful to the NYPD for their continued diligence and investigation in this matter,” they stated, as quoted by ABC 7 Eyewitness News.
“The vandalism and desecration discovered at St. Mary Star of the Sea in Far Rockaway last month was absolutely disgraceful. We continue to pray for the responsible individual, as well as for greater religious tolerance in our city.”
According to a recently released report from the Family Research Council, over 400 acts of hostility were recorded against churches in the United States last year.
The FRC report documented 415 hostile acts across 43 states, affecting 383 churches, based on open-source documents, media reports and official records.
“Although the motivations for many of these incidents remain unknown, the rise in crimes against churches is taking place in a context in which fewer Americans are attending religious services or identifying with a specific faith,” the report explained.
