In Washingtonville, New York, about 50 miles outside the city of New York a church and memorial recognizing five firefighters who died on 9/11 at the World Trade Center were desecrated.
The memorial honoring the firefighters that gave their lives had a large flagpole in the middle of it that was cut down.
The destroy everything & hate everyone culture has struck again last night as the Washingtonville NY Orange County 9/11 Memorial park was vandalized & AMERICAN FLAG CUT DOWN. These individuals obviously don’t know what sacrificing everything to save a fellow human being really is pic.twitter.com/oUFdh3gWr2
— NYCFireWire (@NYCFireWire) July 8, 2020
Record Online reported:
Courageous “freedom fighters” near our home cut down the flagpole and vandalized a 9/11 memorial for Washingtonville’s five local fallen FDNY firefighters who perished at the World Trade Center, and then vandalized St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church nearby. https://t.co/mQAd1x9FoR
— James A. Gagliano (@JamesAGagliano) July 9, 2020
The memorial includes a semi-circle of black granite monuments bearing the names of five local victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks, all members of the New York City Fire Department: firefighters Mark Whitford, Bobby Hamilton and Gerry Nevins, Batallion Chief Dennis Devlin and Lt. Glenn Perry. Atop each stone is a replica of a firefighter’s helmet.
The somber, granite-and-brick tribute to the “Washingtonville Five” and the other 9/11 victims was completed on Sept. 7, 2002, in time for the first anniversary of their deaths.
The flagpole was found severed on Wednesday with a tool that cut through the flags composite base. A message was left on the pole however police will not reveal what was written.
Just a half-mile down the road a sign at St. Mary’s Parish Center was also toppled over causing some damage.
The town’s local assemblyman Colin Schimitt spoke out:
“Evil and hate targeted our community last night. The depraved desecration of the Washingtonville 9-11 Memorial and St. Mary’s Parish Center property is indefensible. These two locations mean so much to Washingtonville and the larger community. The 9-11 Memorial is where we go as a community to honor, reflect and remember the brave heroes who sacrificed their lives combating terror on our own soil. St. Mary’s is a place of peaceful worship and togetherness that lovingly welcomes all members of the community regardless of faith. We will never reach a point where it is acceptable in this country to tear down memorials to our 9-11 heroes or disrupt places of worship. The person or persons responsible must face the full force of law and swift punishment.”
When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked about statues being toppled on Thursday she said, “People do what they do.”
Reporter asking about Christopher Columbus statue in Baltimore: “Shouldn’t that be done by a commission or the city council, not a mob in the middle of the night throwing it into a harbor?”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “People will do what they do.” pic.twitter.com/mlSUDIBZRv
— The Hill (@thehill) July 9, 2020
