WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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A week after Donald Trump was elected president of United States, George Nathaniel Stang sprayed the walls of Saint David’s Episcopal Church in Brown County with a swastika, anti-gay epithets, and “Heil Trump.”
In May, Stang, who is publicly gay, confessed to spray painting the church in 2016.
In a conversation with Doug Bauder, director of the LGBTQ Culture Center at Indiana University, published yesterday by the Herald Times, Stang said that he is ashamed of his ‘false flag’ attack.
Stang is charged with institutional criminal mischief, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a five thousand dollar fine. He is not charged with committing a hate crime.
The 27-year old, who was the church’s organist at that time, said that he did not commit the crime out of hatred, but out of fear, depression, and loneliness.
Stang wrote a confession to authorities, and penned a letter to the Herald Times, and spoke with a reporter.
Heads of several LGBTQ communities like Bloomington Pride and Spencer Pride condemned Stang’s vandalism, emphasizing that such ‘false flag’ actions undermine credible concerns about the safety of the LGBTQ community.
Stang is reportedly working with St. David’s staff and the Brown County community towards reconciliation.
