An arrest has been made in the burglary and vandalism of a historic black church in Annapolis, Maryland that happened last month, causing more than $100,000 in damages.
WBAL-TV reported on June 9, around 9 a.m., Anne Arundel County police officers responded to the Fowler United Methodist Church (UMC) for a reported burglary. Upon arrival, the officers discovered a broken window and found significant damage to the church.
The Anne Arundel County Police Department announced the arrest of Jarren Alexander, 22, on charges of vandalism against two area churches, including the Fowler UMC. Alexander has also been charged with two additional incidents of vandalism at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church located nearby, according to the Roys Report.
“Let me be very clear: there is no place for hate in our county,” said Anne Arundel County Deputy Police Chief Katie Roberts at a press conference Thursday. “We will not tolerate hateful acts of any kind towards our places of worship or any individuals in this county.”
“This is an amazing day to where we see justice,” said Fowler UMC Pastor Jerome Jones. “I’ve pastored since 2012 and I have never seen a church in such disarray and so much pain in a room.”
“Frederick Douglass once said, ‘If there is no struggle, there is no progress.’ But (we) have held on to our faith. Most of all, we never let go of hope,” Jones told reporters. He also thanked people who have donated to the church and “neighbors who came and sat with us in our pain.”
“$100,000 of damage in one church in one night is an astronomical amount,” police spokesman Chris Anderson told the Roys Report. “And it’s not just the money, it’s the safety, security, and impact on people.”
As CBN News reported, a large cross with a red banner, the logo of the UMC that had hung behind the pulpit, had been ripped from the wall and tossed aside in a pew.
The damages also included the following: audio cables for church sound equipment were reportedly cut, five televisions were destroyed, and anointing oil was poured into an electrical socket on the floor next to the pulpit, The Capitol Gazette reported.
Photos of the damage posted to social media showed what appeared to be hundreds of pages ripped from the church’s collection of Bibles and hymnals laying on the church sanctuary’s red-carpeted floor.
The Fowler church’s current building was built in 1965, but the parish was founded in 1871, making it one of the oldest in the area, according to state records. The parish serves as many as 100 members, according to The Gazette.
Maryland law recognizes crimes committed against religious properties to be hate crimes.
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In an unrelated incident, two suspects have been charged with the vandalism of “Black Lives Matter” and Pride signs at the Ark and Dove Presbyterian Church in Odenton, according to Roy’s Report.
Twin brothers, Blake and Brandon Krenzer, 19 of Gambrills, Md., were charged with vandalism and issued a criminal summons by the court commissioner.
Police are still investigating another incident at a house of worship in southeast Maryland.
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