A church in Indiana is the latest victim of a rash of violence against supporters of President-Elect Donald Trump. The church was tagged with a hate message in graffiti saying “Heil Trump.”
But the pastor of the church says that church officials will not remove the hate message for a period of time so it can stand as a symbol of hope in the community by letting residents know that hateful views will not prevail.
The pastor of an Indiana church that was vandalized earlier this month with the words “Heil Trump” said Thursday at first she was “disheartened” to see the graffiti on the church.
Rev. Kelsey Hutto, of St. David’s Episcopal Church, said the church is a “pillar” in the community.
“And we were very saddened to see it,” she said Thursday on CNN. “But at second thought, I was excited in some ways, which sounds weird, I know, because we were targeted for the right reason.”
Hutto then quoted the church’s presiding bishop-elect, who said “doing the right thing is not always the popular thing.”
“And if that’s why we were targeted, we’re OK with that,” she said.
The church was vandalized earlier this month with a swastika, a gay slur and the words “Heil Trump.”
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Hutto said the church plans to leave the graffiti up until Nov. 30.
“The reason we’re leaving it up, though, is symbols are what you make of them,” she said.
“And if we decide to look at these and be embarrassed and consider them hateful and angry and we decide to cover them up, then we give the power to the idea that hate is more powerful than love, and that’s not the case.”
