MILFORD - A Tennessee man, who police say, broke into a Milford church because he believed the church and its pastor “were supporting and pushing the LGBT agenda,” has been charged with a hate crime.
Charles Yarbrough, 30, of Nashville, was charged with hate crime and and intimidation based on bigotry/bias.
It was his second hate crime arrest in two vandalism incidents at the Mary Taylor Church on Broad Street.
His July 25 arrest is in connection with the June 27 vandalizing of the church. Police said Yarbrough slashed two chairs and a banister inside the church.
Mary Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church in downtown Milford has made a point of proclaiming that it welcomes members of the gay community.
Since February, a colorful sign in front of the church has announced, “To be clear if you are queer LGBTQIA+ you are affirmed here!”
It went up days after a vote at a special General Conference in St. Louis Feb. 23 to 26, when the United Methodist Church voted to strengthen its ban on gay clergy and same-sex marriages. The local church also posted a sign apologizing for that vote.
The Rev. Kristina Hansen at Mary Taylor Church doesn’t think it was necessarily the rainbow colored sign that made the church a victim of a hate crime, but rather the church itself and its views on sexuality. The church has long been an open and affirming church, one that sanctions marriages between those of alternative sexuality, and allows openly gay clergy.
During the first attack on the church on June 27, Yarbrough targeted what Hansen described as church symbols, gouging a huge hole in an antique wooden kneeling rail inside the church, as well as slicing chairs on the church altar.
...from News https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Tenn-man-charged-again-with-hate-crime-at-14256557.php
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