“It is a desecration,” Morgan said. “This is a sacred space and that is a symbol of racialized hatred and it has no business in this country and the city and certainly not in a churchyard.”
The Metropolitan Police Department said it is investigating. “These types of offenses are taken seriously and are entirely unacceptable,” department spokesperson Hugh Carew told CNN. “We are currently investigating this as a possible hate crime.”
She added, in the email which CNN obtained, “I know that this symbol causes fear in people’s hearts.”
Morgan told CNN she hopes the church and the congregation can respond to the incident by leaning into their faith.
“I know for my faith life that everything is redeemable and God can redeem everything, even the person who decided it was a good idea to hang this thing in a tree in a courtyard,” Morgan said.
The church has a banner supporting the Black Lives Matter movement hanging outside.
Source : CNN