Several Ocean State communities have been shocked by hate crimes in the last few months. Swastikas, threats of arson, and even a fire have families worried. So how does Rhode Island handle hate crimes? WBRU’s Emily Jones reports.

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The pews of Slatersville Congregational Church are full this Sunday morning. The faithful have gathered here to sing, worship, and pray together just as they have every week since the 1830s. But right now they’re praying not just for the sick or marriages and births – they’re praying for the church itself.

In late September, someone carved a swastika and a racial slur into an outside wall of the church. Four weeks later, an upside-down cross and a threat to burn down the building appeared.

That’s the Reverend Eileen Morris. She says the vandalism deeply hurt the congregation.

“That was really painful for the church. People cried over that. They wept when the saw the swastika and the racial slur written – cut with a knife into the front of the church. It was a wound on our church.”

And she explains there’s no concrete reason to target the church. Instead she thinks it’s a general anger.

“I wish I could say that we were doing things that were controversial. That we were housing undocumented workers or supporting political leaders in other countries that perhaps people would be upset about. But we don’t do any of that. We do our Walk for Warmth and we knit sweaters to go to South America. I don’t think it’s in reaction to what we are doing. I think it’s just somebody’s way of acting out.”

The events in Slatersville don’t stand alone. Also in September, investigators deemed an East Providence house fire a hate crime. There was a swastika on that house’s wall, too. Last year, there were 26 hate crimes statewide.

Assistant Attorney General Tom Palombo heads the state’s Office of Civil Rights Advocate.

“These things don’t just affect a family that lives in a house in East Providence. They affect every family of color that lives in East Providence or that lives in Rhode Island or that lives in our country. It’s a crime not just against that family, but it’s a crime against society.”

Palombo explains his office is doing all it can to combat such crimes in Rhode Island.

Just a week from becoming police officers, these trainees at the Municipal Police Training Academy are learning how to deal with incidents like the ones at the Slatersville church.

Training sessions like this one have become standard practice here over the last fifteen years. Not only new recruits at the training academies, but also seasoned officers around the state learn about the history of hate and how to recognize and handle hate crimes. Tom Palombo says that training helps.

“Law enforcement knows when they see a swastika painted on the side of a building, where there’s an arson committed, where the n-word is written for example like we have in East Providence, that they’re looking at a hate crime.”

One key approach in Rhode Island is a civil rights law that lets the state file a lawsuit in cases like vandalism and hate speech. It’s part of an effort to stop the problem before it reaches the level of violence.

Back in Slatersville, the church has focused mostly on healing. Reverend Morris explains how the whole congregation helped erase the marks from their wall.

“On the Sunday, we gathered together as part of our worship service. We went outside and it was a pouring rain day, and we sanded it off. And everybody had a chance to sand it. And we sang and prayed together.”

Parishioners say they’re worried about future action against their church, especially about the threat of arson.

But they still file in each Sunday to worship together. Their kids still play after church and go to Sunday school. And they’re continuing all their community outreach, no matter what threats stand against the church.

Police are still investigating and haven’t made arrests in either the Slatersville or East Providence cases.