A Baltimore pastor who found himself in South Carolina at the time of Wednesday’s church massacre said the “heinous” crime is a sign the religious community needs to take a stand on gun reform and combat the “systemic evil and oppression” that exists inside America.
“I think that the church now is being drafted into this fight for common sense gun reform and policies that make us safe,” Donte Hickman told The Washington Times. “We don’t want anyone to die but we do know that all things have a purpose.”
Mr. Hickman, the spiritual leader for Southern Baptist Church in Baltimore, was at Life Center Cathedral in North Charleston when the shooting took place at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, about 15 miles away.
He said he had expected to spend a night discussing religious faith but instead found himself quietly fleeing the cathedral to the parking lot after he and the other churchgoers discovered a gunman was on the loose.
“Police believed that he was targeting black churches that evening, and we prayed,” he said. “And the police asked if we would end the service and said that they would stand outside and protect the people as they walked to their cars.”
Mr. Hickman, who last month watched a 60-unit senior center intended to provide affordable housing that was under construction in Baltimore burn down during the riots, said he is determined to find a way to combat “racialized violence and dehumanization.”
“If we could help to reinforce the kind of policies that make guns harder to get then perhaps this child with this mental health disorder — even if it’s racism — wouldn’t be able to come into this sacred space and create such violence,” he said.
• Maggie Ybarra can be reached at mybarra@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.