Historic Black church in Delaware vandalized with racial slurs

NEWARK, Delaware (WPVI) -- Police in Delaware are investigating after a historic Black church dating back to the early 1800s was vandalized with racial slurs sometime over the weekend.

The slurs were etched into the side of St. Daniels Community Church of Iron Hill.

"I looked up and that's when I saw the first racist slur," said Donna Johnson, the pastor's aide who was doing cleanup work on Saturday.

She went to check the side of the church that faces a wooded area because the heat wouldn't come on. The slurs were written next to large propane tanks. Of all the words scrawled on the church, the word 'die' stood out.

"When he put die, he wanted us to die, that's propane tanks out there," Johnson said.

She and the pastor are concerned that whoever committed the heinous act may have tampered with the propane tanks. So they had to cancel Easter services.

"I was angry," said Pastor Joseph Field. "We couldn't have services here. I canceled service because I wasn't sure how bad everything was."

The church dates back more than 200 years. A Civil War veteran is even buried on the property. New Castle County detectives are investigating the crime and NAACP representatives were at the church on Monday to talk with the congregation.

"For someone to feel empowered to vandalize this particular church on holy weekend, is appalling," said Dr. Freeman Williams, president of the Newark NAACP.

They plan to help the church find and prosecute whoever is responsible. They are also trying to help them get more surveillance cameras.

The pastor has a message for the person who did this: "We're not going anywhere. We're not afraid of you. We're here to stay, you're going to have to live with that."