SILVER SPRING, Md. 鈥� On the night of the election, a ”Black Lives Matter” sign at a local church was vandalized, and some county and religious leaders claim the vandalism is connected to the heated and divisive presidential race.
The word 鈥淏lack鈥� was cut out of the sign, leaving the message 鈥淟ives Matter鈥� outside Christ Congregational Church.
鈥淥ur country鈥檚 harmful campaign stoked feelings of fear in many residents of Silver Spring,鈥� said the church鈥檚 senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Matthew Braddock, 鈥渁nd we feel that that fear is leading to messages of exclusion.鈥�
鈥淚 know a lot of us are not feeling very safe this week,鈥� said Montgomery County Council member George Leventhal. 鈥淚 know a lot of us are trying to understand what happened on Tuesday.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 nervous that we are going to see more acts of violence like this because this is the sort of activity that鈥檚 been normalized by the president-elect鈥檚 behavior over the last year and a half and enabled by the media,鈥� added council member Tom Hucker.
But there were also messages of hope and reconciliation. Rev. Jeffrey Thames said that he and others felt love for the vandal or vandals. 鈥淲e love you, too, so much that we are inviting you to come in and have a meeting with us, so that we can understand what it is that you鈥檙e feeling,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e are a nation of many beliefs, many thought processes 鈥� at the end of the day we鈥檝e got to be one Montgomery County,鈥� said Jim Stowe, Director of the county鈥檚 Office of Human Rights. He also said that 鈥渢his does not鈥� go one way or the other鈥� when it comes to which groups or individuals deserve protection, and anyone who feels their well-being has been threatened should call police.
In the two nights after Trump’s election, protesters across the U.S. have taken to the streets. Some of the protests have been mostly peaceful, but in other cities, anti-Trump protesters have blocked highways and vandalized businesses.
