A rash of attacks on Catholic symbols prompted CatholicVote President Brian Burch to write a letter to the attorney general in December, asking for an investigation into the apparent hate crimes. A month later, Burch is accusing the Justice Department of turning a “blind eye” to the continuing vandalism.

“Last month we alerted Attorney General Merrick Garland to the disturbing rash of attacks on Catholic symbols, shrines, statues, and churches across the country and asked that the Department of Justice investigate,” Burch said in a statement released by CatholicVote. “Yet, as more and more incidents of vandalism targeting Catholics are reported, the Biden administration continues to turn a blind eye, choosing instead to devote resources to investigating parents who simply want a say in their children’s education. This raises serious concerns about the administration’s commitment to protecting the First Amendment rights of all people of faith.”

In the letter dated Dec. 15, 2021, Burch asked the Department of Justice to address the rash of attacks “on Catholic symbols, shrines, statues and churches across the country.”

According to the letter, CatholicVote represents “the voices of millions of Catholics across America who seek to renew our country and our culture.”  

The letter said the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops documented at least 114 incidents against Catholicism across 29 states and the District of Columbia since May 2020. Some of the incidents, according to the letter, included: “arson; statues beheaded, smashed and painted; gravestones defaced with swastikas and anti-Catholic language and American flags next to them burned, and other forms of destruction and vandalism.” 

The number of incidents has since risen. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops notes on a webpage accessed Feb. 1 that since May 2020, 120 incidents of arson and vandalized statutes have occurred in 31 states and the District of Columbia. One recent case was cited in a release issued Jan. 27, where CatholicVote pointed to the destruction of several statues at Nativity Catholic Church in Fairfax County, Virginia.

“We haven’t seen widespread vandalism against the Church like this since the rise of the Ku Klux Klan,” Burch said in the release.

He again asked the Department of Justice to act.