Church and city officials in Washington expressed their shock on Sunday after Black Lives Matter signs in front of churches were destroyed overnight during protests backing President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud.
“Last night demonstrators who were part of the… gatherings tore down our Black Lives Matter sign and literally burned it in the street,” said pastor Marie Mills, of the Asbury United Methodist Church, in a statement.
“For me it was reminiscent of cross burnings,” a practice used by the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan to intimidate Black Americans, she wrote.
Videos published on social media showed people in black and yellow clothing and bulletproof vests, typical of the far-right militia group the Proud Boys, setting fire to the signs on Saturday night.
Washington mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted on Sunday that the city’s faith institutions “embody our DC values of love and inclusivity.
“An attack on them is an attack on all of us,” she said.
Yolanda Pierce, dean of the Howard University School of Divinity in Washington DC labelled the alleged incidents “acts of both racial terror and religious violence”.
Thousands of Trump supporters gathered in the capital Saturday to back the president’s claims – with no evidence that the 3 November election was fraudulent.
Clashes broke out between demonstrators and counter-protesters. Four people were hospitalised after being stabbed.
Mr Trump has yet to concede to President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on January 20.
