Authorities in New York City are searching for an unidentified individual who vandalized three churches in Queens earlier this fall while carrying an LGBT pride flag.
The New York Police Department’s Crime Stoppers division issued a public appeal for information on Wednesday, asking for assistance in identifying the suspect responsible for damaging three churches in the Far Rockaway neighborhood on Oct. 5.
According to Crime Stoppers, the incidents occurred between approximately 1:40 a.m. and 2 a.m., when a masked individual targeted The Refuge Church of Christ, The City of Oasis Church of Deliverance, and St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church.
The suspect allegedly spray-painted “anti-Christian statements” across the façades of the three churches and defaced “the faces of two religious statues on the church property” at St. Mary’s.
Surveillance footage released by authorities shows a person carrying an LGBT pride flag mounted on a pole while wearing a rainbow-colored facemask, black clothing, 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,” Crime Stoppers stated.
The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is leading the investigation into the incident.
The Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, which oversees parishes in both Brooklyn and Queens, issued a statement condemning the act of vandalism at St. Mary’s.
“The Diocese of Brooklyn is grateful to the NYPD for their continued diligence and investigation in this matter,” the statement said, as reported 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 recent report by the Family Research Council, incidents like this reflect a troubling trend of hostility toward houses of worship across the United States. The report documented 415 acts of hostility against 383 churches in 43 states last year, based on open-source data, media coverage, and official records.
