Post by crudo on Oct 24, 2005 17:09:16 GMT -5
'KKK' spray-painted on church door
By BLAIR CRADDOCK
BEE STAFF WRITER
PATTERSON — Hate graffiti marred the door of a church Sunday morning.
Michael East, pastor of the Agape Baptist Church at 501 N. First St., said he found the letters "KKK" scrawled on the church's door when he arrived shortly before 9:30 a.m. to open for Sunday school.
"It was spray-painted across the entire door," East said. Vandals also had left another chilling sign, he said: a hangman's noose, suspending an upside-down wooden cross from the church's exterior.
Stanislaus County sheriff's Sgt. Michael McEntire confirmed that Patterson Police Services responded Sunday morning. The incident is under investigation, and no arrests have been made.
East, who is black, said the church's congregation of about 120 people is racially diverse. "We're here to make positive changes," he said of the 14-month-old church.
"We basically took that as a message the community needed to be prayed for," East said. "What it also suggested is that we are making an impact in the community," attracting negative attention.
Traces of graffiti, with letters 12 to 18 inches high, were visible Sunday afternoon beneath freshly applied white paint on the door of the church, which is in a small business park.
A children's gymnastics studio sits on one side of the church, and a welder's shop sits on the other. Two taco trucks stand in the parking lot.
"I saw the three letters," said Jesus Virgen, 75, who owns one of the trucks, El Pato Loco. He noticed them when police arrived Sunday morning, he said in Spanish.
Virgen said he'd stayed at the taco truck until 1:30 a.m. Sunday. No graffiti was on the door when he closed and went home, he said.
"It must have happened when nobody was here," said Esmeralda Alvarez, 20, who works a few steps away at the other truck, El Trebol. There are people who loiter in the parking lot at night after the taco trucks close, she said.
Willie McDaniel, president of the Stanislaus County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, hadn't heard of the incident Sunday afternoon. But he expressed concern.
"This is exactly the type of thing we have to be aware still exists," McDaniel said. "We need to make a strong stand against it."
He noted that the incident occurred during a week designated as "Stop Hate Week."
Bee staff writer Blair Craddock can be reached at 578-2394 or bcraddock@modbee.com.
By BLAIR CRADDOCK
BEE STAFF WRITER
PATTERSON — Hate graffiti marred the door of a church Sunday morning.
Michael East, pastor of the Agape Baptist Church at 501 N. First St., said he found the letters "KKK" scrawled on the church's door when he arrived shortly before 9:30 a.m. to open for Sunday school.
"It was spray-painted across the entire door," East said. Vandals also had left another chilling sign, he said: a hangman's noose, suspending an upside-down wooden cross from the church's exterior.
Stanislaus County sheriff's Sgt. Michael McEntire confirmed that Patterson Police Services responded Sunday morning. The incident is under investigation, and no arrests have been made.
East, who is black, said the church's congregation of about 120 people is racially diverse. "We're here to make positive changes," he said of the 14-month-old church.
"We basically took that as a message the community needed to be prayed for," East said. "What it also suggested is that we are making an impact in the community," attracting negative attention.
Traces of graffiti, with letters 12 to 18 inches high, were visible Sunday afternoon beneath freshly applied white paint on the door of the church, which is in a small business park.
A children's gymnastics studio sits on one side of the church, and a welder's shop sits on the other. Two taco trucks stand in the parking lot.
"I saw the three letters," said Jesus Virgen, 75, who owns one of the trucks, El Pato Loco. He noticed them when police arrived Sunday morning, he said in Spanish.
Virgen said he'd stayed at the taco truck until 1:30 a.m. Sunday. No graffiti was on the door when he closed and went home, he said.
"It must have happened when nobody was here," said Esmeralda Alvarez, 20, who works a few steps away at the other truck, El Trebol. There are people who loiter in the parking lot at night after the taco trucks close, she said.
Willie McDaniel, president of the Stanislaus County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, hadn't heard of the incident Sunday afternoon. But he expressed concern.
"This is exactly the type of thing we have to be aware still exists," McDaniel said. "We need to make a strong stand against it."
He noted that the incident occurred during a week designated as "Stop Hate Week."
Bee staff writer Blair Craddock can be reached at 578-2394 or bcraddock@modbee.com.