BILLINGS— Members of the Billings community met at Mayflower Congregational Church Wednesday afternoon to build a support network following a hate crime at the church in December.
Billings Police Chief Rich St. John, members of other churches and dozens of Billings residents attended, focusing on the vandalism found at the church Dec. 13.
Watch the report:
Leaders at the LGBTQ+-affirming church had found six swastikas and a slur spray-painted on the church’s Rehberg Lane-facing wall. A week before, a pride flag with the message “God is still speaking” was torn down.
“People were afraid to come to church,” said Pastor Amy Carter.
The church received help cleaning the spray paint from the wall, inspiring Carter to build a list of people who could respond if hate crimes occur in the future.
Related: 'Hate doesn't have the last word': Cleanup after church vandalism sparks unity in Billings
"I just thought it would be great if we had like some kind of community gathering where people could come together and be in solidarity with each other," said Carter.
Several people attending the meeting recalled hateful acts in Billings over the years.
“We were one of the last states to adopt Martin Luther King Day. So, we were trying to make that a big gathering and celebration… and as people came back to their cars, they had flyers from the Ku Klux Klan, and they were profoundly disturbed by that,” recalled Margie MacDonald, Billings First Congregational Church member.
Hate crimes and hate speech in recent years have included the vandalism of a colorful mural near South Park and a noose left near a bank with four black members.
A 2014 exhibit created by Billings West High School students and the Western Heritage Center illustrated hate crime in Billings’ past and the Not In Our Town movement, which started in Billings. That movement was in response to a series of vandalism against members of the Jewish community in 1993, and the community's response against the hate.
“We had some really intense discussions in class about racism, about what happens in the Billings community, the larger community,” said Bruce Wendt, former history teacher who had guided the students’ in making the exhibit.
“I think that once again Billings can be a model for standing up to injustices of all sorts, including our LGBT community, people of different races, religions, in different faiths. We can do that again,” added Ann Hanson, Mayflower Congregational Church member.
