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LDS churches hit / Police not yet ready to link vandalism to Proposition 8
By MITCH SHAWLAYTON -- Law enforcement officials in the Top of Utah say it is too early in the investigation to determine if a run of vandalism at local LDS churches is related to the church's support of California's Proposition 8.
Damage to another LDS church in Layton was discovered early Monday morning. Three other churches in the city had previously reported vandalism.
The incident is the sixth of its kind within the past three days in the Top of Utah.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was one of several high-profile public supporters of Prop 8. Other proponents include the Roman Catholic Church, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the Knights of Columbus. The controversial California state ballot proposition overturned the California Supreme Court's decision recognizing same-sex marriage in the state as a fundamental right.
"A lot of opinion has generated that this is in connection with Prop 8," said Layton Police Lt. Quinn Moyes. "We aren't making that connection yet."
On Sunday morning, police were notified of damage to glass doors at the Layton churches at 1290 N. Church St., 60 W. Gordon Ave. and 2160 W. Gordon Avenue.
Also Monday morning, police discovered the church at 2025 E. Antelope Drive had similar damage.
Layton police believe a pellet gun or BB gun was used to cause the damage at all four Layton churches. The double-paned glass in the doors only cracked, did not shatter completely and it stayed in the frame.
"A lot of people have wondered how come nobody heard any shots," Moyes said. "But these are BB guns, and you're not going to hear them, and you wouldn't have heard the sound of glass shattering or falling on the ground."
LDS churches also were vandalized over the weekend at 5191 Old Post Road and 5855 S. Skyline Drive, Ogden.
Ogden Police Lt. Scott Sangberg said someone threw a rock through a 4- by 6-foot window on one of the doors on the northeast corner of the church on Old Post Road. He said it happened sometime between 10 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday, but wasn't reported until Monday.
Weber County Sheriff's Capt. Klint Anderson said one of the windows on a door had been broken out of the church on Skyline Drive on Saturday night. The glass shattered completely, but police didn't know what had been used to break it.
Anderson said one of the church's bishops left the church Saturday night at about 9 p.m. and saw no damage to the building. At 11:30 p.m., the bishop got a call from a ward member living near the church who told him a glass door had been shattered. The bishop then notified police.
When asked if police were suspicious of any ties between the vandalism and Prop 8, Anderson said no evidence could be found at the scene indicating that was the case, but police had not ruled it out.
"We won't jump to that conclusion yet," he said. "The only thing that makes it suspicious is the timing of the whole thing."
Moyes said the Layton Police Department is still investigating the vandalism at all four churches and also had not yet ruled out a connection to Prop 8.
"There is no evidence yet that would say it's a hate crime," he said. "It would be a whole lot different if somebody spray-painted Prop 8 on the side of the building."
Residents near the church on Antelope had differing opinions on the motivation of the latest vandalism.
"I think it (Prop 8) definitely has something to do with it," said Dennis Price, who lives a few blocks from the church. "And it's a pretty stupid way to go about proving a point."
Ron Petersen, who attends church in the building and lives just a few hundred yards from it, also thought the two were related
"That's the first thing that came to my mind," he said. "When I saw it, that was the first thing I said to my wife."
Another neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said she didn't believe the crime was related to Prop 8.
"That kind of thing has happened several times," she said of the broken church glass. "There's a lot of vandalism at our churches. It's nothing new."
Standard-Examinerreporter Sam Coopercontributed to this report.
Add Your Comment
its funny how people tend to blame the mormons for prop 8 but do they ever wonder well if my parents were gay would i be here and second a religion wants to support a cause why cant they I mean politicians do it all the time but you guys seem to support them, there money there voice so go get married in hell.
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