Crosses set on fire outside Sylmar church in possible hate crime
Authorities are investigating a possible hate crime in Sylmar after someone set fire to three crosses outside a church with predominantly Latino and Black congregants, the Los Angeles Police Department said Thursday.
Firefighters were sent to Sylmar Christian Fellowship Church in the 13900 block of Polk Street at 4:42 a.m. in response to reports of a rubbish fire in front of the church, according to Nicholas Prange of the Los Angeles Fire Department. The fire was already out by the time firefighters arrived. They found only smoldering wood and a nearby water hose.
Three crosses outside the church were burned and one of them was knocked to the ground, according to authorities.
“I hope it wasn’t a hate crime,” Pastor Pierre Howard said an interview. “If it is a hate crime, it’s a hate against God, not a hate against us personally.”
Sylmar Christian Fellowship Church has operated for 28 years and is a predominantly family-oriented church, Howard said. The church has a Spanish-language congregation and another congregation that is predominantly Black, he said. The church will have its next in-person service on Sunday morning.
The church facilities has surveillance cameras, but they’re not pointed toward where the crosses were burned, Howard said. Investigators told him they are looking for an individual who likely acted alone.
“There’s no history of people harassing our church members,” Howard said.
He feels that the person who set the fire with some type of flammable liquid likely acted impulsively and didn’t think through what they did.
“To me, it didn’t seem like a lot of thought was put into it,” Howard said.
There is limited information about the fire, according to a statement from the LAPD, but the department said the “public can be assured that all investigative resources will be utilized to capture the person or persons responsible.”
LAFD arson investigators were on the scene. L.A. police detectives are handling the hate crime investigation, because the fire was started outside a house of worship, LAPD Officer Drake Madison said.
A representative for the FBI’s Los Angeles field office said it was aware of the incident and was in communication with local authorities. Investigators with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded to the scene to assist with the investigation, which is standard for the agency when a place of worship is targeted in a crime, according to an ATF spokesperson.
Someone with the church posted a photo on Facebook of a wooden cross outside the building.
“Good morning Family and Friends! We want to let everyone know that we are doing well and the church is Good,” the church member wrote in the social media post. “We thank you for your prayers.”
Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Los Angeles office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, thanked law enforcement for investigating the vandalism as a potential hate crime.
“We strongly condemn this act of arson and stand in solidarity with the Black and Latino communities,” Ayloush said in a news release. “We express our support and deep concern for the congregation affected by this troubling incident.
“It is essential that we come together as a society to denounce all acts of violence targeting houses of worship and work toward fostering a society in which every individual may practice their faith without fear of persecution or prejudice.”
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