A Kansas Catholic church named for St. Patrick was vandalized because the weekend resulting in St. Patrick’s Day started.
A suspect was arrested Sunday after the harm to St. Patrick’s Church in Wichita was found at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Wichita police consultant Aaron Moses mentioned, in response to the Wichita Eagle.
Police discovered “in depth vandalism, together with hate speech, harm to statues, candles and glass. Notably, a United States flag was additionally burned,” Moses mentioned.
Police declined to offer particulars of what the hate speech mentioned.
The Wichita Fireplace Division, FBI, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been investigating, police mentioned.
NEW: A Catholic church in Kansas was ransacked Friday evening by Satanists. The FBI and ATF are on scene investigating.
Statues, candles, and home windows have been smashed, and an American flag was burned at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Wichita. The vandals additionally spray-painted hate… pic.twitter.com/s8LOAthXLJ
— CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) March 16, 2025
“After forcing their approach inside, statues have been destroyed, glass smashed, and different in depth harm exacted upon this sacred area,” the Kansas Catholic Convention posted on Facebook.
“A Satanic web site was scrawled on a wall. That is the face of evil,” the put up mentioned.
“It’s disgusting,” Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan mentioned, in response to KSN-TV.
“It doesn’t matter what denomination. Individuals ought to really feel secure there, and they need to really feel that it’s a spot that may be revered,” he mentioned.
In response to the Wichita Eagle, a suspect within the vandalism was arrested at 2:20 a.m. Sunday.
The Salina Post recognized the suspect as Michael Angel Gonzalez, 23, of Saline County.
Gonzalez has been locked up within the Sedgwick County Jail on a bond of greater than $500,000 and faces expenses of housebreaking, legal desecration, and legal harm to property in reference to the harm to the church.
St Patrick Catholic church in Wichita, Kansas, was discovered vandalised this morning.
Picture: Kansas Catholic Convention pic.twitter.com/RG8vlIGKYq
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) March 15, 2025
Gonzalez additionally faces expenses of contempt of court docket and violating his parole, in response to KAKE-TV.
The Kansas Division of Corrections mentioned Gonzalez was on parole for convictions of legal menace, legal harm to property, and housebreaking.
“This reprehensible act of vandalism is not going to be tolerated,” Sullivan mentioned.
This text appeared initially on The Western Journal.
