Abortion Rights Graffiti on Tiny, Rural Mississippi Church

COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) — Authorities in a rural Mississippi county are shocked and perplexed after discovering a tiny, remoted church vandalized with abortion rights slogans.

“It’s mystifying, you realize?” mentioned St. Elmore Armistad, a deacon at Mt. Avery Missionary Baptist Church in southeastern Lowndes County.

The graffiti embody “Maintain your legal guidelines off my physique” and “Ladies simply wish to have elementary human rights.”

They do not have something to do with the church, the place about 5 folks repeatedly attend companies, Armistad instructed The Industrial Dispatch.

“We don’t preach abortion,” he mentioned. “We preach Jesus Christ. It simply don’t add up.”

Armistad, 73, mentioned all the things was nice on Sunday. He went to the church Monday afternoon and the perimeters and again of the brick and wooden constructing have been coated by graffiti in black, pale blue and pink.

“Why us? That’s the very first thing I questioned,” he mentioned. “You hear about issues like that occuring different locations, however you don’t get a grip on it till it occurs to you.”

Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins characterised the vandalism as “odd,” noting that the church, east of Columbus close to the Alabama line, was in the midst of nowhere on a street that sees little site visitors.

He mentioned investigators are in search of suspects on what’s going to seemingly be a vandalism cost. Whether or not will probably be a misdemeanor or a felony is determined by the estimated quantity of the harm, which Hawkins mentioned he doesn’t have but.

“Why there?” he mentioned. “Why that church? Why use that to ship a message?”

Armistad mentioned he believes the church was chosen as a result of it’s so remoted.

“I believe they picked us as a result of they knew they might get away with it,” he mentioned. “There’s no one shut by to form of regulate issues.”

Hawkins requested anybody with details about the vandalism to contact his workplace or Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers.

Armistad mentioned, “We’re looking for out what it would take to eliminate it. It’s in numerous colours, and on the wooden and the brick, too.”

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