Paint Attack to St Martini's Church by Feminist Activists
On the night of the 6th to the 7th of March, vandals painted large parts of the outside walls of St. Martini's church and of the community centre with blue, purple and pink paint. According to the police, images recovered from a surveillance camera show four masked people spraying the exterior walls of the church with fire extinguishers. A feminist group claimed responsibility for the attack, sending an alleged letter of confession, which states that "as long as evangelicals threaten the beautiful life, we will continue to attack them aggressively".
On the night between the 6th and 7th of March, large parts of the walls of the exterior of St. Martini's church and of the community centre were the target of a paint attack. The police were alerted and found images from surveillance cameras, showing four masked people spraying the walls of the church with fire extinguishers. A feminist group of activists sent a letter to the church claiming responsibility for the attack, stating that they saw on International Women's Day an opportunity to "beautify" the church with paint. Moreover, in the alleged confession, the attackers stated the following: "as long as evangelicals threaten the beautiful life, we will continue to attack them aggressively", therefore constituting a direct attack against evangelicals.
The Bremen Evangelical Church (BEK) condemned the attack, considering it unacceptable and not a legitimate form of expressing opinions in a democracy. The church committee of BEK further claimed that they "promote non-violent and respectful forms of debate" and that violence can never contribute to peaceful coexistence.
St. Martini's church is well-known for its conservative evangelical theology. In the past, the Protestant St Martin's parish has regularly been in the public eye because its pastor, Olaf Latze, polarised the public with "controversial sermons and statements". At the end of November 2020, he was sentenced by the Bremen District Court to three months imprisonment for hate speech against homosexuals and incitement to hatred and further commuted to a fine of 90 daily sentences of 90 euros each. It was said that Latzel had incited hatred against homosexuals in a marriage seminar distributed on Youtube.
Latzel appealed against the sentence before the district court but the regional BEK provisionally suspended the ministry of the pastor. Nonetheless, the St Martini congregation stands by its pastor - in spite of the legal accusations and the ban on preaching imposed on Latzel by the BEK as a result of the verdict.
Source: Buten un Binnen Evagelicalfocus
Picture by Radio Bremen from Buten un Binnen