'Black Lives Matter' Sign Vandalized at Church

During a summer when race relations have been a topic across the country, the “Black Lives Matter” sign outside a Bethesda church has been vandalized twice in two weeks.

On Aug. 11 someone removed the word “black” from the sign at the River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation, leaving only “lives matter.”

The same action happened on July 29 and the church replaced the sign on Aug. 6. The new sign was defaced Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s unacceptable,” the Rev. Louise Green told Montgomery Community Media.

Church officials say they will replace the sign yet again.

“It is a message that we are taking; a stand that all African American lives matter. … We consider this not our property but our social stand,” Green said.

The Black Lives Matter movement grew out of the acquittal of George Zimmerman in Florida for the shooting death of black teenager Trayvon Martin. Subsequently it has been a rallying cry in protests over police-involved deaths of African-Americans in Ferguson, MO, New York City and during this spring’s Baltimore riots.

»Photo of sign at River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation, courtesy of Montgomery Community Media