PILSEN — A Pilsen church was twice tagged with racist graffiti in the last week, the church's pastor said in a passionate Facebook post this week.
The doors of Lincoln United Methodist Church, 2009 W. 22nd Place, were defaced with messages in white paint two days in a row that read: "Rape Mexico" and included a swastika this week, confirmed Rev. Emma Lozano, Lincoln United pastor.
Lozano has now asked the church's congregation and neighbors to be on alert following the incident, saying that they are fueled by a "wave of racism increasing throughout the country."
In her post on Facebook that included photos of the vandalism, Lozano wrote that Christians who plan to vote for GOP presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz should remember that Jesus was a refugee and migrant.
"You can't worship him on Sunday morning and call to build a wall and deport him on Monday," she writes. "Today and yesterday our church Lincoln in the neighborhood of Pilsen Chicago was the target of the racists and with more courage and determination we will fight."
The doors of Lincoln United Methodist Church in Pilsen were defaced with racist messages, including "Rape Mexico" in white paint this week. [Facebook/ Emma Lozano]
It's unknown who wrote the messages, and police haven't said who might be behind them.
The racist messages were found after Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke at the church on Easter Sunday, in support of undocumented Latino families who faced deportation.
A church musician removed the graffiti from the church windows, according to the Chicago Tribune, and the incident was reported the Chicago Police, police officials confirmed.
The writing was racial in nature and a criminal damage report was generated, police said. No one is in custody at this time and Area Central detectives are investigating.
Lincoln United Methodist is the sister church of Adalberto United Methodist in Humboldt Park, where Elvira Arellano, an undocumented Mexican woman, made headlines as she fought deportation and sought asylum with her child in 2006.
The graffiti comes after escalating tensions led Trump to cancel his presidential rally at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago earlier this month. Lozano was among those who vowed to protest Trump's appearance.
Lozano, sister of labor activist and community organizer Rudy Lozano, is also founder of Centro Sin Fronteras, a Chicago-based organization that has fought for adequate schools, housing and against deportations.
Pilsen's library and a bilingual alternative school are named for Rudy Lozano, who was murdered in 1983.
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