A black man was arrested and charged Tuesday after posting dozens of racial and threatening signs in downtown Colorado Springs, including outside a predominantly black church.
Vincent Broughton, 44, admitted to posting the signs in an interview with a local ABC affiliate. Police charged him with a bias motivated crime, disorderly conduct, harassment and littering.
“I did it. Probably about 100 or so, I’d come downtown everyday and put up the posters,” Mr. Broughton told ABC.
The signs were first posted outside the New Covenant Church of God in Christ near downtown Colorado Springs. Many referenced the KKK.
“Black men beware, you are the target,” one sign read.
The messages, posted less than two weeks after nine black congregants were fatally shot in a Charleston, South Carolina, church, had New Covenant on edge.
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“We locked our doors this morning, so we were inside, but it shouldn’t be that way,” Pastor Roland Joyner told a local CBS affiliate. “You shouldn’t have to lock your doors in the church, it’s just … I’m speechless.”
On Monday morning, three signs were found outside the Relevant World Christian Cultural Center, a culturally diverse church near downtown Colorado Springs. One sign read, “this church works for the KKK,” ABC reported.
“I want people to know how corrupt these people that run the town are, the police department, city council and people in the community,” Mr. Broughton told ABC.
The man said he’s had a bad experience with city officials, but he did not tell police why he targeted the churches.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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