Morristown Mayor Calls For Unity Following Church Vandalism

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty has called for unity and a "stronger community" following acts of vandalism at five predominantly black Morristown-area churches over the weekend.

• Read More: 5 Black Churches Vandalized In Morris County

You can read his full statement below:

This past Saturday, November 25th, four local churches in Morristown and one in Morris Township reported property damage in the overnight hours. The Church of God in Christ for All Saints, Bethel A.M.E. Church, Calvary Baptist Church, Union Baptist Church and Morristown Church of Christ all reported the damages as acts of vandalism. I want to begin by applauding the investigators from the Prosecutor’s Office and local police from the Morristown Police Department and the Morris Township Police Department for their fast work in finding Zuri C. Towns and ruling out bias as the motive in the vandalism of these five churches in our local area. I also want to thank the pastors of the affected churches for their resilience and their willingness to help in any way possible.

Acts like this have the potential to divide our community, but Morristown has proven that when adversity strikes, we come together. The outpouring of support from our residents for our local churches has been astounding, and I believe that the residents of Morristown and Morris Township are taking this act of vandalism and using it as a way to show that our communities cannot be easily broken.

I want to assure our residents that we are doing everything we can to promote safety and inclusiveness in our community.

While I condemn these acts of vandalism, we should not condemn Mr. Town but rather provide him with the help he needs. I will be working with the pastors of the local area churches that were affected to discuss ways in which we can build a stronger community together. Now is the time where we must come together as a strong and open community to all that live here.

Mayor Timothy Dougherty

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