The rainbow-colored doors with the message “God’s doors are open to all” were vandalized with spray paint over the weekend. Volunteers pictured here take time Sunday, Sept. 17, to clean up the graffiti sprayed at Congregational United Church of Christ. Approximately 60 people turned out to restore the area along Broadway Street. (submitted photo)
The Decorah Police Department and the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office were notified Sept. 17 of multiple buildings in Decorah, as well as areas on the bike path, skate park and streets/alleys that were defaced and vandalized by spray paint during the overnight hours. An arrest has been made in the investigation.
Initial reports indicated buildings were in the area of Broadway and Winnebago Street. The vandalism was reported at the Decorah Lutheran Church and the United Church of Christ, which has a prominent display at the front of the church with five rainbow color doors labeled with the words “God’s doors are open to all.” There was also graffiti on the property of the courthouse across the street.
Decorah law enforcement agencies reported the vandalism included “hate speech that was both shocking and criminal.” The reports of these crimes were taken seriously and both agencies worked diligently together, investigating, interviewing, serving search warrants and collecting evidence in this case.
Suspects were quickly identified.
Related story: Arrest made in ongoing vandalism investigation
Response
In information submitted to the newspaper from a Congregational United Church of Christ spokesperson, “On the morning of Sunday, Sept. 17, churchgoers at Decorah Congregational United Church of Christ and Decorah Lutheran Church discovered their church buildings and signage defaced by graffiti with anti-LGBTQIA+ messaging. By the early afternoon, approximately 60 people had gathered to bear witness to what had happened and to counteract it with a message of love, inclusion and hard work to restore the damages.”
A display of rainbow-colored doors with the message “God’s doors are open to all,” which has stood in front of Decorah UCC every year since 2016 for Decorah Pride celebrations, was vandalized on the front and back. “God hates gays” were among the messages scrawled in spray paint.
On Saturday, Sept. 16, Decorah UCC was among the coalition of local churches that had held a prayer meeting and marched in the Decorah Pride parade.
Decorah Police and the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office responded to the incident. Nearby infrastructure on West Broadway, from Court Street to Winnebago Street, such as stop signs and the corner of the courthouse retaining wall, were sprayed with graffiti as well.
Laura Barlament stated Decorah UCC was the hardest hit by the vandalism. At 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Decorah UCC called a gathering. Approximately 60 people showed up to witness what had happened, pray for healing and to help with the hours of repainting and scrubbing that were required on the Decorah UCC property. The volunteers cleaned the courthouse property as well.
Pastor Amy Larson of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and Pastor Melissa Bills of Luther College Ministries led a short service of prayer and lament.
Volunteers included members of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Decorah Lutheran Church, First Lutheran Church, Decorah Unitarian Universalists, the Decorah Pride organization and Luther College students and staff. They scrubbed extensive areas on the roof, back, sides and chimney of the Decorah UCC building. They also repainted the rainbow doors to restore the original message, “God’s doors are open to all.” Alongside the volunteers, children, high school students and college students chalked the sidewalk with messages of love and images of rainbows.
Matt and Steph Hughes even used their climbing gear to work safely on the steep roofline while scrubbing a large amount of graffiti. “We just support Decorah Pride, and it’s so sad that this happened the day after a joyful parade,” said Steph. “This was fun, even though the occasion was not good,” said Maya Warren, a Luther student. “We heard about it and were glad to help.”
The rainbow-colored doors with the message “God’s doors are open to all” were vandalized with spray paint over the weekend. Volunteers pictured here take time Sunday, Sept. 17, to clean up the graffiti sprayed at Congregational United Church of Christ. Approximately 60 people turned out to restore the area along Broadway Street. (submitted photo)
City officials respond
During a special meeting held Monday night after the regular council meeting, City Council and City Staff discussed the vandalism that took place Saturday night and Sunday morning. Several members took the opportunity to speak out, praising the community’s unification in the aftermath, the vigilant efforts of the police department, and the success of the weekend’s celebration in light of the vandalism.
Chief Thein: “The crimes that occurred Saturday Night and Sunday morning are unacceptable and they are taken very seriously by our department. We are investigating thoroughly — because it is an active investigation, we have limited information we want to put out there. However, I am pleased with the progress of the investigation and you should all have some answers fairly quickly. i am pleased with the progression for the investigation, what we are focusing on is bringing the individuals to justice. What we are focusing on is investigating and bringing to justice the few individuals in the community that committed such a horrible crime. We are going to put our attention on how we saw the community come together afterwards and The number of people we saw afterwards helping one another, consoling one another, just recalling coming together and that’s the community we want Decorah to be known for and stand for. You will know in short order when arrests are made.”
Council member Ross Hadley: “I think it was 5 years ago when Steve Luse gave me this piece of paper. When we were just working on the sustainability committee: it was something that we suggested we use as a framing document. These are Steve Luse’s words, and it’s especially appropriate now: Sustainability isn’t just about being green or environmental or economically feasible or community minded. Sustainability is about creating the kind of community and lifestyle that can thrive even during hardships in times of change. If our economy goes sour, will our community thrive? If climate changes our weather patterns, will we be able to accommodate the change without losing what makes us a community?”
Council member Steve Luse: “What a wonderful beautiful marvelous weekend! The exuberance our community displayed Saturday in the parade and the sharing of sentiments with each other and the great time we had celebrating that love is love, I take personal pride in the beautiful flags we had flying honoring all of our people and that love is so valuable to all, not just to certain genders.”
Council member Emily Neal: “Love is more powerful than hate. The pride committee pulled together such an incredible event this weekend. Even the heavens were trying to give a rainbow with the giant rainstorm we got! We are in solidarity with the members of our community who experienced or fell victim to this hate crime this weekend.”
Council member Steve Zittergruen: “It should be clear in no uncertain terms that Decorah, as a matter of principle and policy, utterly rejects any attempts to target any members of our community, especially those who were targeted by Saturday night’s actions. We stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ neighbors who are a welcome part of our community and are valued here. Decorans of every political stripe and political allegiance have their backs, and we aren’t going to let the actions of a few outshout the love and support of the many.”
Submit A Comment
Fill out the form to submit a comment. All comments require approval by our staff before it is displayed on the website.