Indiana church vandalized with racial slur after Black pastor enters mayoral race

Vandals scrawled a racial slur in front of a church whose Black pastor had just entered the town's mayoral race.

Timothy Dunston, the pastor at New Life Temple Church of God and Christ, found the slur written in orange on a road in front of his church in Mount Vernon shortly after filing his intention to run for mayor, reported WFIE-TV.

“I rode over the top of it, and I know I said, ‘Wait a minute,’ and I backed up and I said, 'Well, this just don’t make no sense,’” Dunston said. "So I just went on to the house and went home and got my phone, came back and took a picture of it because I just couldn’t believe that people are like this in this year.”

Evelyn Stewart, who lives right behind the church, said her grandchildren told her about the vandalism.

“My granddaughter took pictures and she was like, ‘Are they supposed to do that?’ and I said, ‘No, it’s not supposed to happen like this,’ but sometimes you have ignorant people,” Stewart said.

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A security camera at a business across the street was pointed toward the area where the slur was written, so police are analyzing those records for evidence.

“I want everybody to know, that shall not deter me,” Dunston said. "You can write everything you want to write, don’t make no difference. What that does is inspire me to do better. I know now we need to do something here in this city to try to keep this stuff gone.”