OP police investigate hate crime after banner in support of LGBTQ community found slashed
Police are investigating a hate crime after a banner displayed in front of an Overland Park church in support of the LGBTQ community was vandalized.
On Friday morning, Indian Heights United Methodist Church Pastor Ali Haynes drove up to the church at 103rd and Nall Avenue, and noticed the sign was down.
“What it looks like is that somebody took a knife or box cutters and slashed it into five pieces and there were at least eight zip ties holding it up and they had cut all those off as well,” she said.
“That just made me really sad that somebody has so much hate inside of them that they would do that.”
The banner, put up in 2019, said “All are welcome!” and had rainbow colors.
Haynes said to reach the sign, someone had to either park in the church parking lot or climb a hill.
“It was very deliberate,” she said.
The damage was reported to the Overland Park Police Department. Officers are investigating it as a hate crime, the first to be reported this year in Overland Park, according to Officer John Lacy, a department spokesman.
A detective will be assigned to the case and officers that patrol that area have been made aware of the incident, Lacy said.
No suspects have been identified.
“We have a zero tolerance when any group is targeted,” he said in a statement Saturday. “We may have very few leads, but we are also asking for the public help that if they have any information to contact the Overland Park Police Department.”
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 124 hate crimes were reported in Kansas in 2020, the most recent year for which data is available. Most were race-based, but 11 were based on sexual orientation or gender.
Haynes said she wants whoever is responsible to be held accountable for their actions.
“But then from a pastoral side, I’d really love the community to see that all people are truly loved by God, no matter who you are, who you love, what you look like,” she said. “Some people, it’s really hard to change their hearts and their views on things, but I truly believe that if we keep pushing a message of love, it will spread.”
There has been an outpouring of support to get a new banner, Haynes added.
The Star’s Sarah Ritter contributed to this story.
