Cross burning in Calif community

LOS ANGELES – Anger and shock have penetrated a prosperous, mostly white Central California community where an 11-foot cross was stolen from a church and set on fire next to the home of a black family.

"I was horrified," said the Rev. Stephanie Raphael, president of the San Luis Obispo Ministerial Association. "We live in a paradise, and I think the first thought was, this can't really be real."

Police assigned extra patrols to the neighborhood in Arroyo Grande — a city that hasn't seen a hate crime in nearly a decade — and rewards were offered for information leading to an arrest.

The cross was stolen from a garden at Saint John's Lutheran Church weeks ago and set ablaze Friday in a lot behind the house where the family lived, police Cmdr. John Hough said.

A 19-year-old woman saw the flaming cross from her bedroom window. Officers doused burning pieces of wood with a garden hose.

Police declined to release the names of the family because the incident was considered a hate crime — the first since 2002 in the city of 17,000 in mostly rural San Luis Obispo County, a region of vast farms, picturesque towns and a state university campus.

 

Disgusting!

 

It was a mixed race family.

11-Foot Cross Burned Near Mixed-Race Family's HomeMar 23, 2011 – 9:30 AM .READING THIS NOW

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Lisa Flam
Contributor
Residents of an affluent central Californian town are outraged by thieves who stole an 11-foot cross from a church and set it afire near the home of a mixed-race family.

The wooden cross was apparently stolen between early February and early March from Saint John's Lutheran Church in Arroyo Grande. It was torched early Friday in a vacant lot near the bedroom window of a 19-year-old woman, who saw the cross engulfed in flames and called authorities, according to news reports.

The teen's mother told KSBY-TV that the family was the victim of racism because she is white, her husband is black and the couple's daughter is of mixed race. The daughter has been described as black in some news reports.


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"I will protect her always," the teen's mother told The Tribune of San Luis Obispo. "I thought I had done a great job protecting her from harm until this point. This just destroyed her faith and mine."

As authorities investigate the case as an arson and hate crime, residents expressed their anger during a City Council meeting Tuesday.

"I am deeply disgusted by what has occurred," high school junior Carolyn Hinson told the council, according to according to The Tribune. "I would like you to somehow find a way to make it so these hate crimes can never occur in the county, in the state ... so we can make it a loving, peaceful place to live."

"I'm just sickened that a family had to go through this," said Patty Welsh of Arroyo Grande, KSBY reported.

Authorities have not released the family's name because the case is being treated as a hate crime, the first in Arroyo Grande since 2002, The Associated Press reported. The mostly white city of 17,000 is in rural San Luis Obispo County.


Sponsored LinksThe FBI and state Justice Department are helping with the investigation, and $3,500 in reward money has been offered, the AP said.

Authorities say the cross was put into a shallow hole in the vacant lot and set ablaze at about 12:30 a.m. Friday, the Santa Maria Times reported. It had fallen by the time police arrived to find the charred cross burning with 4- to 5-inch flames.

The teenager awoke to find the burning cross outside her window, then woke up her mother, who told her to call 911, reports said. Officers put out the fire with a garden hose.

"It was surreal," Dean Limbo, who attends Saint John's, told the AP. "The peace and the love in this community, you never would have thought it. It was just horrific, it really was, this poor family terrorized."

 

hmmm and of course no one saw who did it.

 

i can imagine the type of idiots who would do this, idiotic thing to do

 

Those racist are too lazy to build their own cross so they stole one from a church garden. Such scum should be put in prison for life.

 

wow...I would nt be surprised if they came from that church...I hope not but I wouldnt be shocked.

exactly. I was thinking the samething.

There are so many things to talk about on this one it is unreal

 

good point, now that i think about it

 

arch made a better point and that is no one saw them put it up. It must have been late late at nite but still someone should have seen something

 

lippy should be shocked and the initial reaction is disturbing but the reality of the situation is that racism is alive and well in the usa and on this site we are more worried about rep points than what is really important...we shouldn't just be concerned with IR relationships but also how blacks in america are still viewed as a race...we shouldn't just be worried or concerned with our IR relationships but also other black couples...we shouldn't just be worried about mixed kids but also black kids...we shouldn't just be worried our men but also their families...

we have alot to learn ladies...

 

It's the second incident this week, this occurred in Orange County.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8026476

California is of a handful of states that is less than 50% white (e.g. Texas, Hawaii, New Mexico). As more political ground is lost here, there will be more outbursts of racism and violence.

This idiot from the Sacramento area left UCLA this quarter after receiving death threats for posting this anti-Asian rant on youtube. Note: UCLA has more Asian students (37.12%) than white (32.36%), so not too bright even for a former Bruin.

[YOUTUBE]Kn60kemUreQ[/YOUTUBE]

 

it's good and accepted to live in mixed communities, just as long as you follow this cardinal rule. NO interracial RELATIONSHIPS.

that seems to be the catch, when it comes to people that would otherwise be okay with living around you. God forbid its a bm with a pretty ww. The same people that were cool, probably wouldn't even speak to you. And you better not have little mixed babies either. You really crossed the line then and will find all kinds of shit burning in your yard.

 

I think she makes a good point about not talking on the phone while you are in the library. But she has to understand Asians are not the only one that talk on the phone while in the library. Having said that if you go to Big name school or grad school you will most likely see more Asians in the library than any other race, therefore the chance of you witnessing an Asian student making or receiving a phone call in a library is higher. But I wouldnt put a video on the web out there about it tho. That is pretty stupid of her period.

 

Brilliant post, Satyr. Good analysis of those states as well. :smt023

 

nah the bitch is racist.....white ppl are the most annoying cellphone talkers, besides that she is lying.....studying? pleeeeeeeeease! she's probably studying a blowjob book or something......if her inarticulate ass was studying english then i would support her.

 

To be fair, the blonde dimwit's education prior to attending UCLA was at Hooters. And secondly, I think giving her circumstances, she was caught up listening to this...

[YOUTUBE]CD2LRROpph0[/YOUTUBE]

And her reaction was..."the horror...the horror"!

 

hmmm I thought CA had the most amount of European descendants in the United States, no?

 

sad but true

 

Every race is annoying as hell on the phone.

I've seen every race do it.

 

I was talking to a WM who is a CHRISTIAN and we debated IR. I forgot the particulars of the discussion or what started it ....but he was like kind of uncomfortable with it...he stated " so you wouldnt be mad if your daughter dated a WM"

I replied "no. numbers 12 : 1-13 supports IR"

He replied "what if he wears a confederate flag ?"

I responded " he wont be wearing one"

he asked " how do you know ?"

I replied "because my daughter know after I whip his ass then Im gonna spank hers for the dumb shit"