Police say they are now investigating graffiti that was spray-painted at Parkdale United Church ahead of Martin Luther King Day as a hate crime. Last Friday, vandals defaced the church’s south side wall with the n-word, “Tupac” — a reference to the dead rapper — plus other words and tags, spanning about 25 feet. Rev. Anthony Bailey, the city’s only black United church pastor, told the Sun this week he was dismayed to see the vandalism shortly after signs promoting a special Martin Luther King Day service went up on church property. The vandals used the wall of Parkdale United Church as a canvass to provoke hatred.
“We’ve never had anything like this happen before. Breakins, sure, but I’ve been here for 16 years and never this type of thing,” said Bailey, who happens to be the only black United church pastor in Ottawa the leader of a very diverse congregation that boasts upwards of 80 black people. The graffiti appeared shortly after signs promoting a special Martin Luther King Day service went up on the church’s property. Police were called and are investigating, but aren’t prepared to call it a hate crime just yet, said Const. Chuck Benoit. Bailey said the church paid for the cleanup the next day.
Among other words was a larger scribble of the word “Tupac”. The famous rapper with the same name was gunned down in a driveby shooting in 1996. Fearing it was a sign of things to come, Ottawa Police were present at Sunday’s special service that attracted about 500 people.
“We were pleased to have police in our presence,” Bailey said. “They offered it just in case. They weren’t anticipating there could be something, but they wanted to make sure.”
This whole ordeal hit home for Bailey. He and his brother were victims of a hate crime on the streets of Montreal several years ago. They were attacked and Bailey’s brother died from knife wounds. “This was a little bit of a trigger when I saw those words on the wall,” he said, “but my faith and my community and the support I’ve received really holds me up.”
Source: Ottawa Sun