Arson suspected at church where Black Lives Matter sign went missing, Maine police say
An early morning fire at a Maine community church may have been intentionally set, with leaders fearing the building that displayed a Black Lives Matter sign was targeted.
“We don’t know if it was a protest or somebody was trying to tell us something,” Portland New Church Pastor Lorraine Kardash told WMTW. The BLM sign that hung outside the front window was also missing, she said.
Crews responded to the fire just before 2 a.m. Sunday, WGME reported, citing Portland fire officials. Kardash said a group of neighbors helped douse the flames until firefighters arrived.
“Apparently neighbors, I believe that were right across the street, had seen it and started throwing buckets of water on it,” she told the news station.
Tarp now covers the charred remains of the area where the BLM sign previously hung, photos posted on the church’s Facebook page show. While the official cause of the fire hasn’t been confirmed, the Portland Press Herald reported that authorities said they’re investigating it as “suspected arson.”
McClatchy News reached out to the Portland Police Department on Thursday and is awaiting a response. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is also investigating.
The building, constructed in 1910, doubles as a house of worship and community center, WMTW reported. The Portland New Church serves an interfaith community and has about a dozen members.
In a statement, church leaders said their suspicions about the building being targeted are “fueled by the fact that the Black Lives Matter sign that was hanging outside by the door is now gone.”
“This humble church has served as a meeting space for many people,” the church added. “We are saddened and angered by this hateful act.”
The missing sign was later found underneath a bush, Kardash told WCSH.
The pastor said the church is now focused on rebuilding, though she’s glad the damage wasn’t worse.
“I was actually relieved when I got here and saw it was fixable in many ways,” Kardash told WGME.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Arson suspected at church where Black Lives Matter sign went missing, Maine police say."