A diverse coalition of faith leaders has called on Congress to increase funding for a government security program for nonprofits amid a wave of vandalisms of church properties.
In a letter sent to members of Congress, the coalition asked for more funds to be directed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
The letter noted that this year, approximately $90 million was made available to nonprofits to pay for various security improvements. The coalition asked for an increase to $360 million.
The letter read, “Our sacred spaces have been desecrated, and our faithful murdered. The most recent available statistics from the FBI, for 2018, show that at least 1,244 hate crimes were committed against members of the faiths we represent.”
Over the summer, amid riots that stemmed from protests against police brutality and racism, several historic monuments and churches, especially Roman Catholic properties, were vandalized.
Incidents included a man setting fire to a church in Florida while parishioners were inside and a Virgin Mary statue outside a church in Massachusetts being destroyed.
In response to this apparent trend, Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana asked U.S. Attorney General William Barr to step up efforts to end the attacks on churches.