Asbury Park’s Trinity Episcopal Church has experienced a “possible bias-motivated incident” that multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago. On the evening of Friday, January 27th, Trinity Episcopal Church hosted a concert to benefit an anti-racist organization based in New Jersey. After the concert, an unidentified person attempted to pepper-spray a group of people outside the church’s community building, according to a statement from Reverend Chase Danford.
“The unknown person or persons also threw smoke bombs outside the venue,” Danford said. “Thankfully, no one was injured.”
The same evening, the church’s LGBTQ Pride flag was torn from its post. The flag has been vandalized twice before in recent months. The Asbury Park Police Department launched an investigation into the possible bias incident, according to a statement from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. The investigation remains ongoing.
“The Asbury Park Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office take any allegation of bias extremely seriously and, as a result, will be working in conjunction with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, under the direction of Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, and the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Colonel Patrick J. Callahan, to investigate this matter,” the statement read.
Trinity Episcopal Church’s statement about the recent incident emphasized the church’s commitment to love and respect for all human beings, and condemnation of hatred and violence in all forms. Christian Fuscarino, the executive director of Garden State Equality, also issued a statement about the incident, saying, “We’ve seen an increase in bias incidents over the past few years and it’s an unfortunate reminder that even in the Garden State, there is hate among us that must be addressed.”
