NYC police increasing presence at churches after violent disruption, feces vandalism
New York City will increase police presence at Staten Island houses of worship in response to a recent series of criminal disruptions and other acts of vandalism at local churches.
Patrol Borough Staten Island Assistant Chief Melissa Eger said at a press conference last Thursday that authorities will take extra measures to protect local churches.
“So, I want to emphasize that none of these incidents indicate the targeting of churches due to religious affiliation,” Eger said, as reported by The Staten Island Advance.
“These acts were of opportunism and theft, with a separate incident involving a mentally ill person. That said, any incident, especially a disruption of service that occurs at any house of worship, generates serious concern from our community and we know that.”
According to Eger, NYPD Community Affairs officers will make regular visits to all local houses of worship to foster community relations and provide guidance and safety measures.
Additionally, patrol officers have increased their presence at congregations and religious entities that have been victimized to deter future criminal activity.
The press conference was held outside Saint Ann Roman Catholic Church in Staten Island, which recently garnered headlines for an incident during worship.
At a Friday morning mass earlier this month, police were called to Saint Ann’s when a man became disruptive in the sanctuary, with patrol officers wrestling with the individual by the altar.
During the ensuing struggle, the man and the officers exchanged blows, and he was eventually subdued with a taser. Amid the fight, the altar suffered damage, and several flowers were knocked over.
A motive for the disruption has not been disclosed, though it was reported that the individual was not a member of Saint Ann’s. The unidentified man was later hospitalized for an evaluation.
At a mass held the next day, the Rev. Steve Challman briefly addressed the situation, telling worship attendees that “we’ve had a difficult couple of days here at St. Ann’s.”
“But we find ourselves gathered here as we do each week in the presence of the Lord,” he said. “And as a parish family, we pray for all who were impacted by yesterday’s events, and we thank the members of the NYPD who are with us tonight and who spend each day protecting Staten Island.”
The incident was the second time one of the area Catholic churches had been vandalized. During Christmas morning mass, St. Sylvester’s R.C. Church in Concord was defaced with feces.
“While the mass was going on around 10:30, I was walking to the church to thank people, and I found human (feces) on the door. Smeared on the outside of the door,” Fr. Jacob Thumma told The Advance. “Yesterday, there were a lot of people at the Mass, and I didn’t want anyone to see that. So I sent them through the side door.
