Fox13 by Craig Patrick
November 4, 2019
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A FOX 13 investigation uncovered problems reporting hate crimes all across Florida. Crimes either go unreported or don’t show up in federal stats.
For example, Rev. Andy Oliver leads Allendale United Methodist — a gay-friendly church in St. Petersburg. Last year, someone spray-painted ‘gay pastor’ on it. He reported this as a hate crime.
“If we can start with having an accurate reporting of what hate looks like when action is put to it, then we can know how we can go about trying to dismantle it,” he noted.
Pastor Candace Shultis leads King of Peace Metropolitan Community Church, which someone defaced with a swastika in 2016.
“So we called police. Police came and took a report. We were targeted by someone who knows we are a predominately LGBT community here,” said Rev. Shultis.
