Christian communities in New York City have been left shocked after a man allegedly defaced three churches across Queens with anti-Christian graffiti.
Police say the suspect spray-painted messages including “cult” and “anti-gay cult” and vandalised the faces of two religious statues in a spree lasting around 20 minutes in the early hours of 5th October.
He was captured on camera with an LGBTQ pride flag draped around him and his face covered with a mask.
Father Francis Shannon, priest at St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church, told the NY Post that the incident was deeply upsetting:
“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. So, when I woke up, I saw them, and it was just really sad.”
He added that the attack appeared to target institutions rather than people personally:
“I think this is more of a statement than a hate crime, so just an anti-institution kind of stuff."
Father Shannon emphasised that the perpetrator’s actions should not be seen as representative of the wider LGBTQ community.
“I don’t think this is a big part of the LGBTQ movement since he had the flag," he said. "I think he’s just the exception. I just think he needs to talk it out and not act on it with violence.”
According to the NYPD, the suspect first hit the Refuge Church of Christ around 1.40 am, followed less than five minutes later by the City of Oasis Church of Deliverance.
Around 2 am, he targeted St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church, about half a mile away. It was here that he allegedly defaced two statues before fleeing on a bike.
Police are investigating the incidents as “multiple acts of criminal mischief as a hate crime".
No arrests have been made in the case so far.
Out of 496 hate crime incidents, according to NYC police, from January to September 2024, only 12 were anti-Catholic and five were anti-Protestant.