A church in Alabama was vandalized just days after announcing its plans to host a Turning Point USA event.
The Movement Church of Madison was targeted by vandals who spray-painted the words “Bryan Dawson serves the antichrist” and “Beware his falsehoods” on the church’s exterior sometime between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, according to authorities.
Bryan Dawson, who is the president and CEO of the conservative organization 1819 News, was scheduled to speak at the church-hosted event on Thursday evening.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement Wednesday evening requesting the public’s help in identifying and apprehending the responsible individual or group.
Sheriff Kevin Turner emphasized that vandalism would not be tolerated, stating, “Every person, regardless of their beliefs or affiliations, deserves to feel safe where they worship, work, or gather. Our office will use every available resource to identify those responsible for this senseless act and bring them to justice.”
Movement Church Pastor Seth Adgate told CBS affiliate WHNT News 19 that while the vandalism was “not surprising,” it still caught him “off guard.”
Adgate also mentioned that his church still plans to hold the event, although they are “talking with the sheriff’s department,” and law enforcement is “doing some extra things to make sure this event runs free and clear of problems.”
He added, “We have internal security, and the sheriff’s office was already going to come. But because of the nature of what it is, that it is at a religious organization, it is considered a hate crime at that point.”
Last month, Charlie Kirk, co-founder and CEO of Turning Point USA and TPUSA Faith, was tragically shot at an event on the campus of Utah Valley University, leaving behind his wife and two young children, ages 3 and 1.
Authorities arrested Tyler James Robinson, 22, who they say murdered Kirk because he disagreed with Kirk’s conservative Christian views.
