415 Attacks on U.S. Churches Recorded in 2024
This figure includes 284 acts of vandalism, 55 cases of arson, 28 gun-related incidents, 14 bomb threats and 47 other offences.
At least 20 incidents occurred every month, peaking in June and February with 49 and 45 incidents respectively, for an average of 35 per month.
While this is a decline from the 485 incidents recorded in 2023, it remains significantly higher than in previous years: 198 in 2022, 98 in 2021, 55 in 2020, 83 in 2019 and 50 in 2018, when the FRC began tracking them.
In most cases, the perpetrators and motives are unknown.
Catholic churches feature prominently in the caseload.
In January, a man fired gunshots towards St. Augustine Catholic Church in South San Francisco, causing no injuries.
A processional crucifix and a statue of the Blessed Mother were desecrated at a Georgetown University chapel.
St Leo's Church in Hartford, Arkansas, was attacked once in 2023 and twice in 2024, resulting in damaged statues.
At Holy Family in Fresh Meadows, New York, a statue of Jesus was decapitated.
During Easter Mass at St Peter's in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, around 100 communion wafers were found discarded in the car park. The pastor believed that they were likely not consecrated.
Thirty-three minor incidents were falsly included that targeted churches for embracing homosexual propaganda, often involving stolen rainbow flags.
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