Vandals Scrawl 'Rape And Kill Mexico' On Pilsen Church
By Gwendolyn Purdom in News on Jul 11, 2016 8:05PM
Updated with statement from Chicago Methodist Bishop Sally Dyck at 4:30 p.m.:: A Pilsen pastor took to Facebook Friday to condemn the racist messages that someone wrote on Chicago Lincoln United Methodist Church property, the third instance of this sort of vandalism at the church in recent months. The graffiti, discovered on the church's doors, included the words "Rape and Kill Mexico," "KKK," "Trump Rules" and a Nazi swastika, according to a photo that pastor Emma Lozano posted on social media.
"As the Pastor of two majority Latino congregations and as a Mexican woman who is a mother and a grandmother I am alarmed by the audacity of the person who would send my humble loving congregation such a hateful threatening message for the third time," Lozano wrote on Facebook.
"The Lincoln UMC is in our prayers as they once again face the hateful speech and vandalism that has been inflicted on them," Chicago Methodist Bishop Sally Dyck told Chicagoist in a statement Monday. "They are a faithful and loving congregation that helps many people in their community. We must learn to live together in all our communities and care for one another, not threaten each other. I pray not only for Lincoln UMC but also that the hearts of those who are filled with such hatred will be softened and changed."
The building was last tagged with similar racist messages in March, DNA Info noted. Lozano said on social media that the crime might have been a response to Rev. Jesse Jackson's Easter sermon at the church in which he advocated for immigrant families and families facing deportation. She cited Donald Trump's anti-immigration, anti-Latino rhetoric as another possible trigger.
Her Facebook post doubled down on her congregation's embrace of immigrants:
I pray for love to conquer hate and for the lord to protect us from our enemies and to change the hearts of those who hate because we are brown and speak Spanish. We need to unify and stand up for equality not supremacy and resist the need to be the privileged instead fight for all to live in basic freedom. God sees me and you and loves us both please look through his eyes. Stop deportations separation of families. Stop mass incarcerations and bring our deported veterans home. We will win because when Jesus says yes nobody can say no. #godlovesusall