A man, age 21, was detained after being accused of shattering the glass door of a Catholic Church. It is said that he used a brick to destroy the property belonging to the Church.
Man Broke Church's Glass Door Using A Brick
Based on a report from MSN, at approximately 11:45 p.m. on Sunday, Jun 11, Kevin Guzman of Manorhaven hurled the brick at the Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Church at 6 Cottonwood Road. Guzman then ran away before law enforcement officers could get to the scene. According to the authorities, the suspect was found at his residence at 10:10 a.m. on Monday, Jun 12, and taken into custody without an argument. He was arrested and charged with criminal mischief in the third degree. Moreover, on Tuesday, Jun 13, he was reportedly set to appear in First District Court, which is located at 99 Main Street in Hempstead.
As per NewsDay, a spokesman for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, of which the Church is a part, Sean Dolan, stated that the police had noticed the vandalism to the glass door measuring three feet by three feet before anyone connected with the house of worship saw it. On Tuesday, Jun 13, Dolan informed her that the window would be repaired later that day. He also mentioned that the glass door had no spiritual significance like stained glass.
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Church Vandalism
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that since the beginning of May 2020, at least 260 occurrences have been reported in 43 states and the District of Columbia. Incendiary devices have been thrown at statues; limbs have been severed, crushed, and painted; gravestones have been vandalized with swastikas and anti-Catholic slogans, and American flags have been burned next to them, along with other acts of vandalism and destruction. This list details acts of vandalism, arson, and other devastation committed against Catholic sites published publicly by news outlets. It does not include situations in which the circumstances point to motivation other than hatred towards the Church.
According to New York Post, although the rioting and looting had primarily subsided by the summer of 2020, the religious nonprofit organization said that attacks on Catholic churches had remained and even intensified. As mentioned, smashed windows, statues with their heads severed, and satanic graffiti are some forms of vandalism committed against churches. In addition, following the draft ruling of the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson's Health Organization was leaked in May 2022, which removed the federal abortion protections established by Roe v. Wade, there have been around 118 occurrences reported.
The organization believes that the "vast majority" of reported instances consisted of nothing more than the destruction of property, which is evidence that the primary motivation is not the pursuit of financial gain, even though some of the attacks involved theft. On the other hand, the findings of the report "Hostility Against Churches Is on the Rise in the United States," published by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (COAI), stated that there were 420 incidents of hostility committed against 397 churches in the United States between January 2018 and September 2022. The attacks were carried out in all 45 states of the United States, in addition to Washington, District of Columbia.
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