Pride flag-carrying suspect accused of scrawling 'anti-Christian statements' on 3 NYC churches

Police successful New York City are looking for a Pride-flag-carrying fishy accused of defacing 3 churches with "anti-Christian statements" during a 20-minute hatred transgression spree past month.

The suspect, who was besides wearing a rainbow look covering and pushing a bicycle, archetypal vandalized the Refuge Church of Christ successful Far Rockaway, Queens, astatine astir 1:40 a.m. connected Oct. 5, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) said. Far Rockaway is the southernmost vicinity successful the borough of Queens.

Minutes later, the rainbow-clad fishy allegedly tagged the neighboring City of Oasis Church of Deliverance with much anti-Christian graffiti, constabulary said. Both churches are connected Mott Avenue.

In a information video released by the NYPD, the fishy was captured scrawling "anti-gay cult" successful achromatic overgarment connected the façade of 1 of the churches. The New York Post, citing sources, reported that that video was taken from the Refuge Church of Christ.

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Surveillance footage released by constabulary shows "anti-gay cult" spray-painted extracurricular of 1 of the impacted churches successful Queens, New York. (New York City Police Department (NYPD))

At astir 2 a.m., the fishy spray-painted "Welcome Cult Members" and "cult" connected the walls and sidewalks extracurricular St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church connected New Haven Avenue, according to the Post. 

The fishy besides defaced 2 spiritual statues, coating implicit their faces, constabulary said. 

Police said the idiosyncratic is wanted successful transportation with aggregate acts of transgression mischief arsenic a hatred transgression and the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is investigating.

Father Francis Shannon, who has been a clergyman astatine St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church for much than 8 years, said helium was saddened to larn of the graffiti.

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The NYPD released divided surveillance images showing a fishy carrying a rainbow emblem and pushing a bicycle aft allegedly defacing 3 Queens churches with "anti-Christian" graffiti during an Oct. 5, 2025, hate-crime spree. (New York City Police Department (NYPD))

"It was truly heartbreaking learning astir the vandalism. I was astatine my mother’s house, and arsenic soon arsenic it happened, I got sent pictures," Shannon, 67, told the Post. "So erstwhile I woke up, I saw them, and it was conscionable truly sad."

"I deliberation this is much of a connection than a hatred crime, conscionable anti-institution benignant of stuff," helium said.

A surveillance representation released by the NYPD shows the fishy carrying a rainbow emblem portion riding a bicycle soon earlier allegedly defacing 3 Queens churches with "anti-Christian" graffiti during an Oct. 5, 2025, hate-crime spree. (New York City Police Department (NYPD))

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Shannon said helium doesn’t judge the graffiti reflects the broader LGBTQ assemblage and urged the vandal to speech retired their frustrations alternatively of acting out.

"I don’t deliberation this is simply a large portion of the LGBTQ question since helium had the flag. I deliberation he’s conscionable the exception," Shannon said. "I conscionable deliberation helium needs to speech it retired and not enactment connected it with violence."