2nd BLM Banner
A new Black Lives Matter banner was blessed and installed Dec. 19 to replace one torn down and burned Dec. 12 by the Proud Boys, an all-male radical right white supremacist organization. The second banner also was taken during Christmas week, leading church leaders to believe Asbury is being targeted for its support of the BLM movement. (Asbury UMC Photo)
UPDATED Jan. 6, 10:30 a.m.
United Methodist individual and congregations in and around Washington, D.C., have been called to prayer, witness, and greater security in preparation for pro-Trump demonstrations Jan. 5-7 that some fear may erupt in violence.
Special attention was being given to Asbury United Methodist Church, a historically Black congregation that was vandalized Dec. 12 by the Proud Boys, an all-male radical right organization "with ties to white supremacism," according to the FBI. The group’s leader, Enrique Tarrio, was arrested Jan. 4 in Washington after admitting he tore down and burned Asbury’s Black Lives Matter banner Dec. 12. Mr. Tarrio was also charged with felony possession of high-capacity ammunition in his possession at the time of his arrest for vandalism.
Religion News Service writer Jack Jenkins reported Jan. 6 about two local United Methodist churches' preparations for the expected demonstrations. He wrote:
"Churches are being vigilant this week as Proud Boys and others return to the city. 'We’re going to continue to be engaged in social justice, and undeterred in declaring that Black Lives Matter,' Darryl Wyles, a lay leader at Asbury United Methodist Church, told RNS.
"The church has taken precautions to protect its property and asked Washington police for additional security. 'They have been very proactive during the investigation reaching out to us to make sure we’re OK,' said Wyles.
"... At Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, whose sign decrying violence against multiple groups was also torn down in December (it has been replaced with a Black Lives Matter banner), the Rev. Donna Sokol said police were present near the church steps over the weekend."
The Washington Post reported Jan. 5 that downtown churches and neighborhood leaders have asked Washington police for extra security during the expected demonstrations. Post religion reporter Michelle Boorstein wrote:
“The Rev. Ianther M. Mills, senior pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church, asked for an increased police presence and a marked car at the church on Jan. 6. Police approved the former. Asbury and Metropolitan AME saw their Black Lives Matter banners removed by protesting trespassers last month and burned.
“Asbury believes it’s being targeted, Mills wrote to D.C. police officials Dec. 31. Church leaders believe they could face more serious vandalism and “also our staff and membership are in jeopardy of harassment and harm. . . . Please respond with your plan for protecting our church as well as other targeted downtown churches,” she wrote. “It would be helpful to know what further measures are reasonably expected of us to ensure the security of ourselves and church property.”
Asbury UMC also had a second banner taken over Christmas week, according to the Post article.
In addition to heightened police presence, reported Ms. Boorstein, “… downtown congregations are now taking multiple tacks: asking downtown hotels and liquor stores to limit business during protest days, hiring private security, debating whether to counterprotest or stay out of the city, and in one case, litigating.” Another vandalized church, Metropolitan AME, filed a lawsuit Jan. 4 against the Proud Boys for removing and burning its Black Lives Matter banner.
United Methodist Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling and the cabinet of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference issued an email statement Jan. 4 asking churches to place lights in their windows as a witness against potential violence. The statement reads:
“Churches called to illuminate buildings this week to support fairness and democracy
“As Congress prepares to certify the results of the U.S. presidential election on Jan. 6, as part of an election season unlike any other in recent memory, United Methodists are being called to prayer. We prayed for peace as we approached November 3, 2020, and we will continue to pray for peace as our nation finalizes that process.
“As a way of illuminating these prayers, we ask congregations to place candles in their windows to shine a beacon of hope on our nation today, tomorrow, and Thursday.
“Many groups are traveling to Washington D.C. to protest the outcome of the election. Baltimore-Washington Conference leaders are honoring the request of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is urging people not to gather in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 5 and 6. Some of these protesters, it has been reported, are seeking confrontation. On Dec. 12, a similar protest by the ultra-conservative group "Proud Boys" resulted in violence and vandalism being done to four D.C. churches, including Asbury UMC, where demonstrators tore down and burned a Black Lives Matter banner.
“Although members of the congregations and conference will not be present on Tuesday and Wednesday, we are not abandoning our sacred spaces. In an effort to prevent further violence, security officials will be present at Asbury UMC on the days surrounding Jan. 6. This approach is consistent with the guidance offered in our BWC Election 2020 materials. We will always privilege life and safety above every other consideration.
“The decision not to stage a counter-protest does not mean that United Methodists are in any way stepping away from their commitment to the democratic process or to justice and peace. Rather, leaders have discerned that a heated confrontation with those planning to descend on the capital does not further our stand for justice. Quite to the contrary, it detracts from law enforcement personnel being able to maintain the peace. If the circumstances necessitate a gathering in the coming days, we will organize ourselves in a more systemic, well-reasoned, and faithful witness that better accomplishes the Wesleyan mandate to do good, do no evil, and stay in love with God.
“As we are honoring Mayor Bowser's request and attempting to support law enforcement personnel in the commission of their duties, we call upon them to uphold their oaths to serve and protect all people, and to do with equity and consistency. We also call upon them to move swiftly against actions of destruction whenever they occur.
“For people of faith, January 6 is also Epiphany. In observance of this holy day, United Methodists will continue to rise as they seek to pursue the spiritual and moral obligation to be a light for peace and justice.
“In a public ceremony last month to bless and rehang a Black Lives Matter banner at Asbury UMC, Bishop LaTrelle Easterling offered a statement urging United Methodists to continue to work for justice, love, and peace. She called on United Methodists to choose love, practice peace, and act justly so that hope endures, justice prevails, and love wins. In so doing, we will not only be shining a light in our windows, we will also be shining a light through our lives.”
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.