SAN FRANCISCO — Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco said the “justice system is working” in his statement following the arraignment of five people on charges of felony vandalism for toppling a St. Junipero Serra statue outside a Catholic church Oct. 12, 2020. This matter “will soon rest in the hands of a judge or jury,” the archbishop said.
The attack came on the federal holiday of Columbus Day, which is known as Indigenous People’s Day in California and elsewhere.
Protesters say the saint mistreated indigenous people as a missionary in what is today California, but Catholic leaders and historians dispute such claims, pointing to his care of indigenous people and his respect for them.
The Serra statue outside Mission San Rafael in San Rafael, in the San Francisco archdiocese, was desecrated with red paint and toppled, leaving just the saint’s feet in place.
The five people, each charged with one count of felony vandalism, pleaded not guilty.
The activists are being called the #IndigenousPeoples5, or the “IP 5,” by their supporters, who are demanding Marin County drop all charges against the five indigenous women.
“If a crime caught on videotape and witnessed by the police were not to have been prosecuted, it would have sent a profoundly disturbing message to the hundreds of thousands of people of faith in Marin County: Churches, synagogues, mosques and temples are at the mercy of small mobs,” Archbishop Cordileone said in his statement.
“Even more, this would set an extremely troubling precedent in that no one could be secure that those who perpetrate crimes against them will be prosecuted for their wrongdoing,” he added.
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