A local congregation carried on with its Sunday service after an alleged attack this weekend.
The Community Unitarian Universalist Church of Plano was reportedly the target of a “firebomb attack” at around midnight on July 23, according to a Facebook post from the organization.
“An incendiary device with a chemical accelerant was thrown or placed at the front doors of the main church building. The fire and smoke caused the monitored fire alarm system for the building to go off, which notified church personnel,” the church claimed in the post.
The Plano Fire Department arrived on the scene and managed to put out the blaze. The front door and foyer were damaged in the fire. No injuries were reported.
While no suspects have been identified, the authorities have launched an investigation into the incident after gathering evidence from the scene and conducting interviews with church personnel.
A Plano PD spokesperson told The Dallas Morning News that it cannot rule the incident as a hate crime. The church did allege that a “hate group” had made a scene during and after its service prior to the fire on June 25.
The episode in question appears to have been recorded and posted online by an influencer named Bo Alford.
Alford has accounts on multiple social media outlets, identifying himself as a Christian and a “Pro Lib Troller” on Twitter.
The post noted that the video, entitled “We acted LGBT at LGBT Church,” had been made in collaboration with actor and comedian Cassady Campbell.
It shows Alford and Campbell pretending to be gay men at the church and taking part in some of its activities. They spoke with some of its members, asking them questions.
The two men also recorded and disrupted the sermon at the service. They later explained that they were in the church to “plant the seed” of what the Bible truly teaches.
Church personnel and the Plano Police Department (PPD) have been working together to review security footage since the episode in June. No connection has been made between the two men in the video and the alleged attack this weekend, according to The Dallas Morning News.
On Sunday, the church announced that it would hold service as planned that morning at 10:30 a.m. The post on Facebook specified that PPD would be providing churchgoers with extra security.
Several members of the community commented on this post, voicing support for the church. Some speculated that the incendiary device was “clearly” intended to destroy the entire structure.
“We are strong and will continue on,” commented Patricia Slade Lander, a member of the church, on the post.
