Molotov Cocktail Found in Church Days after Threatening Graffiti Sprayed on Facade

Case information
Incident date
Country
Spain
Place
Córdoba
Categories
  • Social Hostility / Intolerance
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Anti-Religion or Humanism Groups
  • Private
Hate Crime & Violent Incidents
  • Threats
  • Vandalism (all)
  • Vandalism of Church
Place of Incident
  • Church
Bias Indicators
  • Comments/Written Statements/Gestures/Graffiti
  • Significance of Property/Structure/Location to religious community
  • Time/Place/Location
  • Victim/Witness Perception
Reported to Police
  • Yes
Response of Local Authorities
  • Investigated
Image credit: Rafaelji (Cordobapedia) CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

On March 6th, a Molotov cocktail was found placed on the ledge of a window in the apse of the central parish San Miguel in Córdoba. The paper wick in the bottle had had been lit, but fortunately did not combust with the explosive materials inside.

A few days earlier, the church facade had been tagged with the phrase "you are going to burn" ("vais a arder"). Forensic police investigated whether the two incidents were connected.

According to the Centro Jurídico Tomás Moro, the church has been the victim of similar graffiti vandalism for more than 7 years.

Sources