‘This is not who we are:' State College church reacts after Pride flag burned
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WTAJ) — A State College man was arrested after police said he lit a Pride flag on fire at a church, shouted homophobic slurs, and damaged other decorations. The church reacted to the incident and shared a message to the community.
The incident occurred outside the Faith United Church of Christ in Downtown State College. Reverend & church Pastor Jes Kast got the text the day the incident occurred and said she was worried.
'My initial reaction was, this is something that is that we will not stand for in our community. That's not who State College is, and that we need to take action immediately, calm, peaceful action, and this needs to be reported,' Kast said.
Police: State College man arrested for setting PRIDE flag on fire at local church
The church has a camera outside of the main door, and they were able to send video evidence to the State College police. Officers were then able to arrest 27-year-old Markos Bejiga, a resident of State College. He was charged with one felony count of causing or risking a catastrophe, a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, and three summary counts of criminal mischief.
Investigators say Bejiga lit a Pride flag on fire outside the Faith United Church of Christ, attempted to set another flag ablaze while climbing a streetlight pole, and damaged decorations at Chumley's and Café 210 West. He is also accused of shouting slurs at bystanders during the acts.
'He had some sort of, I think, an aerosol and a lighter to try and light that up there. It's hard to reach the Pride banner from below, so you have to stand up. So we think that's what happened, but I'm letting the police look into that,' Kast said.
Kast said she has a two-fold message for everyone in the State College community after this incident.
'This is not who we are, we won't stand for any form of hatred, we won't stand for any form of vandalism or arson. Our community is one of respect, respect of all sorts of people. And so we as a community will stand up to any form of hatred that there may be,' Kast said. 'Like, in the words of Jesus, love one another, it's the very words that are written in our stained glass windows here that blessed are the peacemakers, that's who we will be in this community, that's who we've been since the 1930s, and that's who we will continue to be.'
Bejiga will be formally arraigned in July.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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