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By NWV Senior Political News Writer, Jim Kouri
Posted 1:00 AM Eastern
July 5, 2015
© 2015 NewsWithViews.com
At a time when the nation is still reeling from the racially-motivated attack on a black church in South Carolina that left nine churchgoers, including their pastor, dead, a black male suspect, who tried to pass off his racist threats as being made by a member of the Ku Klux Klan, was arrested by ColoradoSprings, Colorado, police officers on Tuesday. The 44-year old man is being held for posting the offensive signs at a predominately black church, according to law enforcement.
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Vincent Broughton, a resident of Colorado Springs, is accused of posting signs near a church at the 200 block of East Platte Avenue, according to a police statement on Tuesday. One of the signs read: [sic]"HELP This church identified 6 Devils for the K.K.K The Police." The homemade signs appeared on three consecutive Sundays outside the New Covenant Church, a Pentecostal Christian denominational church.
The congregation's pastor, Rev. Roland Joyner, told police that he believed the signs were hung up outside of his church during the Sunday afternoon service. He told police that one of the signs said "Black men be aware, you are the target." A woman, Holly Garvin, who lived in the neighborhood close to the church but was not a member of the congregation, said that she replaced the racist messages with positive, Christian signs such as: "no more violence" and "God loves us all."
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When the racist signs were first discovered posted outside of New Covenant Church, Pastor Joyner told reporters that out of fear for the safety of his "flock" he locked the doors while the churchgoers were inside worshiping. "While this incident doesn't rise to the severity of the South Carolina black church slaughter by a white racist suspect, it nonetheless caused great concern to the Christians in Colorado Springs as well as to the police department," said Ronald Faisel, a former New York State police officer and member of the religious organization Cops for Christ.
Broughton was taken into custody by police without incident on Tuesday after he was a suspect in the posting of more signs in the Colorado Springs downtown area, according to reports. police said. "I did it. Probably about 100 or so, I'd come downtown everyday and put up the posters." said Broughton.
"I want people to know how corrupt these people that run the town are, the police department, city council and people in the community," said Broughton. However, he didn't mention why he wished the pastor and the churchgoers to think the Ku Klux Klan was responsible for the hateful messages.The suspected KKK impersonator is charged with perpetrating a biased-motivated crime, disorderly conduct, harassment, and littering, according to the police. He was served with a Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT) to appear in court and released, police said.
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Monday, July 6, 2015
