‘An act of evil desecration’: Florida church vandalized with racial slurs, demonic images
Days after an electrical fire caused extensive damage at a historic African American church in Florida, vandals defaced the property with racial slurs and drawings of devil horns.
St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church of Ocala was damaged by a fire last Saturday night. On Monday, additional vandalism was discovered at the property.
The vandalism included racial terms like “Peckerwood Wellick” scratched into the building and added to the marquee sign, along with drawings featuring devil horns.
The Rev. Sha'Leda A. Mirra, senior pastor at St. Paul AME Church, told The Christian Post that the vandalism was “deeply personal for me, our congregation, and our community.”
“Saint Paul is not just a building, it is the communal space where we worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it is the legacy left to us by our ancestors,” she said.
“It is sacred ground, a place where we have prayed, worshiped, grieved, and grown together as a community. To see it violated in this way, especially in the midst of mourning the fire, is heartbreaking.”
The local fire department responded to the fire Saturday night around 10:30. Authorities say it was an accidental electrical fire, reports WCJB.
Mirra said it's “painful to know that in a moment when we are already vulnerable, someone chose to target us with hate,” calling the crime “an act of evil desecration of our sacred space.”
“Yet even in this, I am clear about who we are,” she continued. “While we navigate through ashes and hate, this Pentecost season reminds us that the Holy Spirit has ignited a fire within us, one that consumes fear and equips us with power.”
“We will not be defined by what was written on our walls, but by what lives in our hearts. We reject hate, but we will not lose our voice, our faith, or our witness.”
This is not the first time St. Paul AME Church has been the victim of vandalism. Mirra said someone recently threw an object through the church’s glass doors.
She believes the church “will rise from this moment grounded in love, strengthened by our community, and resilient and unstoppable because of the power of God.”
The Christian Post reached out to the Ocala Police Department. A representative said the department was “actively investigating this incident” and that “more information will be shared as it becomes available.”
