NYC: Woman in hijab destroys two statues outside Catholic church, smashing them with a hammer and spitting on them

Jihad Watch : Father Frank Schwarz laments attacks “not against just Catholic churches, synagogues, mosques — these things have become much more commonplace. I don’t know how to respond to that. Just general anti-religious sentiment.”

>Maybe. But the woman in the surveillance video is dressed the way observant Muslim women dress. And Muslims believe that representations of the human figure are idolatrous, and that Christians are idolatrous and under the curse of Allah for believing Jesus is the Son of God (cf. Qur’an 9:30). If this woman turns out to have been motivated to destroy these statues by Islamic animus toward Christianity, will Father Schwarz speak about this honestly? There is about as much chance of that as there is of my being chosen as Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar.

“Police search for person who vandalized Catholic church in Queens,” by Justine Re, NY1, July 18, 2021 :

QUEENS — The search is on for the person who police say vandalized two statues outside a Queens church Saturday morning after the suspect responsible was caught on surveillance video. The incident happened outside Our Lady of Mercy Roman Catholic Church on Kessel Street in Forest Hills. Police say a woman grabbed two statues, one the Blessed Mother and one of St. Therese the Little Flower, and proceeded to repeatedly smash them and drag them along the ground.

The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating. The church’s pastor, Father Frank Schwarz, said both statues have stood in front of the church since it was built in the 1930s “It is heartbreaking, but sadly it is becoming more and more common these days,” Father Schwarz said. “I pray that this recent rash of attacks against Catholic churches and all houses of worship will end, and religious tolerance may become more a part of our society.”

Police released the surveillance video of the woman they are looking for. She is described as wearing all black and in her mid-20s. Police say she used a hammer to break them and they were then dragged to 70th Ave. Father Schwarz hopes the police find the person behind this so it doesn’t happen to other churches.

“It seems to be targeted. These things have become much more commonplace, not against just Catholic churches, synagogues, mosques — these things have become much more commonplace. I don’t know how to respond to that. Just general anti-religious sentiment,” Schwarz said…. “Pray for this person,” Reverend Schwarz said. “Clearly there was a rage, she deliberately went and destroyed these things.

It wasn’t enough to just topple them over, she stomped on them and spit on it.”…