Black Lives Matter signs vandalized at northeast Fresno church

Two Black Lives Matter banners hanging outside the Unitarian Universalist Church in northeast Fresno were vandalized either Tuesday night or early Wednesday, church officials say, but the church has banners ready to replace them.

The word “all” was spray-painted in green atop the word “black” on the banners.

The banners were hung a week ago at the church, which is on Alluvial Avenue, east of Chestnut Avenue.

The church’s board recently voted to put the signs up outside the church, the Rev. Tim Kutzmark said. He said the church studied the Black Lives Matter issue as a congregation for two years before the board vote to hang the banners.

And, the church is ready to hang new ones.

“We have two Black Lives Matter banners ready to go up and replace those that were vandalized,” he said.

In the meantime, Kutzmark said, the vandalized signs will remain for a short of time so people can see them.

Kutzmark said a church congregant passed by the church about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night and saw nothing unusual. When church employees arrived about 9 a.m. Wednesday they found the vandalism.

The vandalism hadn’t been reported to police as of early Wednesday afternoon, but police will be notified, he said.

“The police know the banners are up,” Kutzmark said. “The police made sure there was a police presence there when we put the banners up and we appreciated that. We will report it even though there is likely nothing they will be able to do.”

The church got city permits to install the posts and signs.

“The banners are there to remind us that all lives will only matter when black lives and lives of people of color matter,” he said. “The defacing of the sign reveals the ignorance and the misinformation and racism that absolutely exists that people of color deal with every day and myself, as a white man, do not.”

And, though Kutzmark was discouraged by the vandalism, he said he was far more upbeat about the community’s response.

“When you think of how many cars passed in the last six days, there were a lot more people who saw that message who didn’t react in a negative way,” he said.

Since the banners were raised, Kutzmark said, the church has gotten negative calls and “many, many positive calls just to say ‘Thank you.’ The positive reaction far outweighs the single act of vandalism.”

This story was originally published August 23, 2017 at 1:29 PM with the headline "Black Lives Matter signs vandalized at northeast Fresno church."