Two of the Indigenous women charged with bringing down a monument to Junipero Serra were baptized in the church founded by the Catholic priest and missionary, who participated in the Spanish colonization of California in the 1700s. Ahead of their trials, advocates are asking the city to drop the charges entirely.
Police did not stop demonstrators from bringing down the statue of Junipero Serra in front of Mission San Rafael Arcangel in San Rafael, on Oct. 11, Indigenous People’s Day — or Columbus Day. The planned protest was part of a wave that swept the nation last year after the police killing of George Floyd inspired Americans to remove statues of figures linked to racism.
“During this incident and the subsequent destruction of the statue, it was considered that the statue could be replaced or repaired and that the importance of using sound judgment and de-escalation techniques was paramount to preventing physical interactions between officers and protestors,” the San Rafael Police Department said in a release at the time.
Ines Shiam Gardilcic, 40, Victoria Eva Montanopena, 29, Melissa Aguilar, 36, Mayorgi Nadeska Delgadillo, 36, Moira Cribben Van de Walker, 25, and Andrew Lester Mendle, whose age was not available in public documents, were arrested, issued citations and released, before later being charged with felony vandalism. In the weeks following, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and police asked the Marin County district attorney to prosecute the case to the “full extent of the law,” including a charge of vandalism in a house of worship, a hate crime.
“In our view, this attack on a cherished religious symbol on our own church property is not a minor property crime, but an attack on Catholics as a people,” said Cordileone.
As all five await a preliminary hearing on Feb. 18, activists are organizing. More than 65,000 people have signed a petition asking San Rafael District Attorney Lori Frugoli to drop the charges and advocates have raised more than $8,000 to support their defense.
“While monuments to racism and violence are being removed by city and state officials, schools, parks and activists across the state, the city of San Rafael is refusing to recognize the harms perpetrated against Indigenous people and has decided to file felony charges against five of the fifty demonstrators,” the campaign said, adding that “the demonstration was focused on recognizing Indigenous land and history, not religion.”
It was in the name of religion, however, that Serra converted 81,000 Indigenous people, whose land was taken by Spanish colonizers. And while California students learn that the Franciscan monk did his best to protect Indians, Indigenous Americans remember his role in colonization, which led to the deaths of half of the California Indian population through disease, war and forced labor conditions.
“I believe that Junípero Serra actually created and brought genocide to the California Indian people,” Corrina Gould, co-founder of Indian People Organizing for Change and an Ohlone tribal member, told The Huffington Post in 2015, when Serra was granted sainthood by the Catholic Church despite protests from Indigenous Americans. “In less than 100 years, our way of life, our language, our foods — everything — was destroyed.”
The above comes rom a Feb. 9 story in The Hill.
These ignorant, immature vandals need a good lesson taught to them: Respect for churches, and respect for others’ property! They all need some jail time, and heavy fines to pay for what they did.
“The demonstration was focused on recognizing Indigenous land and history.” That may be true, but that doesn’t justify criminal behavior.
The rally in DC was focused on support of Mr, Trump. But, that doesn’t justify the criminal behavior of a small percentage who attended the rally.
The focus of driving is getting from one place to another, but, that doesn’t excuse drunk driving. (“My focus was on getting home, not on striking that pedestrian.”)
They want to break the law without consequences. That’s the Democrat way of thinking. Unless it’s about conservatives, then Democrats want to cancel them.
If the indiginous people have a case, tearing down and otherwise destroying a statue is not the way to make it. Abp Cordielone seems a bit belicose when he calls for prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.
mikem– if the good Archbishop seems “bellicose,” it is because vandals have senselessly vandalized, desecrated, and destroyed so many sacred statues of one of our Saints, St. Serra, and church property. Desecration and destruction of sacred religious items is a horrible Satanic act.
mikem– there are stern penalties for sacrileges and desecrations, in our Code of Canon Law. These are Satanic acts. Purification rites are called for, to be performed by the clergy (priests or bishops).
It’s time for “indigenous peoples” to grow up. You now have hospitals, schools, a written language, books, science, math, cars, air flight, TV, Computers, cell phones….all due to European culture.
Really. It gets so tiring listening to these whining children complaining of what happened centuries ago.
Grow up. Your lives are immeasurably better because of those early Europeans.
They cannot go around vandalizing the property of others. Their thinking process is so messed up, now they want outright forgiveness of their vandalization. They need jail time and fines to correct their misguided point of view.
How funny to find these ageing feminists harking back to an era when they were chattel and, if taken as a war prize, sex slaves.
#FakeIndians.
Seeing many people who think it is a “right” to desecrate statues whether it is secular or religious is simply the work of simple-minded people who do not see that history is repeating itself. People took down statues at the downfall of Saddam Hussein, Destruction in areas where there were wars and even in countries occupied. The United States took Hawai’i and eventually making it a state. When will it stop? When we rid ourselves of any facet of our history? When our country collapses because of liberal ideology that makes everyone think it is okay to do such things as vandalize because one does not like it? That is utterly foolish and comes from people who cannot think for one’s themselves and see that they are being led like sheep to wherever anybody wishes to take them. This is not ‘social justice’ but lunacy! God gave us a brain and a will to do what is right. Yes, I understand the past is the past but we can work to change for the better and to allow God to run in our lives. I believe there is forgiveness, and I believe the Archdiocese will forgive these people who have vandalized statues and churches but there also has to be justice that needs to be carried out. Forgiveness? Yes but justice needs to be enforced.
Every ethnic and religious group that has come to America, has had to face some sort of prejudice and bigotry. Even the early Puritan settlers had disagreements, and split off into different churches. Catholics faced extreme prejudice, as did Jews. Southern Europeans and Eastern Europeans had it rough, as did the Irish. And then, the Protestant “Orange” and Catholic “Green” Irish fought, on St.Patrick’s Day! In the end, you just have to settle things as best you can, adjust yourself, and go on with your life, and do the best you can. Life will never be perfect, ever! If your group was hurt badly in the past, try to go on, forgive and forget about it, for your own peace of mind– and be the best you can be, and be proud if it! Don’t let the past– centuries before you were even born!– ruin your life, today! There is so much in our great country, that is available for everyone, no matter who they are– and if you work hard, you can make a really great life! We are all truly blessed to live in America!