Incidents of vandalism or violence against Latter-day Saints

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The following list is a compilation of incidents of vandalism or violence against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint members, homes, meetinghouses, and temples. The list will occasionally include incidents in which media, political, or entertainment personalities make anti-Mormon statements that might correlate with spikes in or foment intolerance against Mormons. This is a work in progress and is by no means complete. If you know of incidents which I have not included or hear about any new incidents, please report them in the comments section below. I'll add them to the chronological list. When possible, please include the date, location, and the source of the information. If the info comes from the web, please include the URL.
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27 May 2001
Sandy, Utah
Vandals broke into and damaged a LDS meetinghouse causing over $100,000 in damage. Police said it was the worst case they had ever seen. Vandals smashed light fixtures, glass, sprayed fire extinguishers, and damaged every faucet and toilet, causing flooding throughout the building.
http://www.mormonnews.com/010601/D1SandyVandalism01.shtml

26 April 2002 Magna, Utah meetinghouse vandalized. Window broken, cleaning materials spilled out around the building. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/910270/

31 December 2004 Sandy, Utah meetinghouse. "Numerous obscenities and derogatory remarks aimed at homosexuals, blacks and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were spray-painted over the majority of the church's outside walls. There was no vandalism inside the church."

4 January 2006 Elder Morgan Young, a Mormon missionary murdered in Chesapeake, Virginia http://www.ksl.com/?sid=145847&nid=148

5 April 2008 Mormon missionary assaulted in Mesa, Arizona http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/233064.php

22 April 2008
LDS family's home sprayed with anti-Mormon grafitti
http://spamlds.ning.com/profiles/blogs/2015866:BlogPost:3262

2 May 2008
LDS missionary assaulted in Richmond, Virginia, leaving him with a broken jaw.
http://spamlds.ning.com/forum/topics/2015866:Topic:4222

10 July 2008
A West Linn, Oregon school library ransacked by vandals. A copy of the Book of Mormon was defaced with the words "Mormons Suck" and placed on the desk of the librarian. She was a member of the Church.
http://spamlds.ning.com/profiles/blogs/2015866:BlogPost:5744

14 August 2008
Cottonwood, Arizona meetinghouse vandalized. Break-in, spray-painted walls and furniture, destroyed artwork on walls, damaged computers in clerk offices, discharged fire extinguishers.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705323563/Arizona-LDS-church-van...

10 September 2008
Arson suspected in fire at the St. Paul Temple (which is actually in Oakdale, Minnesota.)
http://wcco.com/crime/arson.mormon.temple.2.814345.html

17 October 2008
Mormon elders attacked in Australia. One of them was hospitalized for multiple stab wounds.
http://spamlds.ning.com/forum/topics/2015866:Topic:7242

5 November 2008
The Meridian web site (www.ldsmag.com) was brought down by a distributed denial of service attack. Meridian often ran articles supporting California Proposition 8.

7 November 2008
A LDS meetinghouse in Orangevale, California was spray-painted with "No on 8" and "hypocrites."
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/479857.aspx

8 November 2008
LDS meetinghouse in Saint Louis Obispo defaced along with several other Christian churches.
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/479857.aspx

10 November 2008
Five LDS meetinghouses in Layton, Utah had their windows shot out with a BB gun. A crowd of 400 protested in front of the Oakland Temple.
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/479857.aspx

12 November 2008
2500 protesters at the Los Angeles Temple. Some Hispanic women who tried to remove the desecrating signs from the temple grounds were beaten by a mob.
LDS meetinghouse in Sacramento was spray-painted with "No on 8."
http://www.calcatholic.com/mobile/newsArticleMobile.aspx?id=f78a0a5...

14 November 2008
Envelopes containing suspicious white powder were received at the Salt Lake and Los Angeles temples of the Church, forcing the sacred edifices to be closed, evacuated, and decontaminated. The FBI was involved with the investigation. It was presumed to be related to the recent Proposition 8 passage.

19 November 2008
A Syracuse, NY LDS Seminary building was evacuated and police responded with HAZMAT teams in response to a report of a suspicious package received at the building. Police reacted strongly due to earlier reports in the week of white powder in suspicious packages in Utah and California.
http://spamlds.ning.com/forum/topics/suspicious-mail-sent-to-lds

19 November 2008
South Park creators announce "Mormon Musical," which ridicules latter-day saints.

29 November 2008
Protestors harassed visitors at the Mesa Arizona Temple's annual Christmas decoration lighting.
http://spamlds.ning.com/forum/topics/arizona-prop-102california

2 April 2009 Anti-Mormon protesters disrupt the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant. http://spamlds.ning.com/profiles/blogs/report-from-the-mesa-temple 17 June 2009 Las Vegas police investigated a religious-based threat made against local family. The incident included a threatening message written on a driveway, a bomb threat, and anti-Mormon grafitte painted on a street nearby. Police put a nearby school on lockdown while they made their investigation. http://spamlds.ning.com/forum/topics/las-vegas-lds-family-target-of 11 August 2009 A LDS meetinghouse in Grand Junction, Colorado was vandalized. No apparent anti-Mormon motive.
http://spamlds.ning.com/forum/topics/lds-meetinghouse-vandalized-in

4 September 2009
Missionaries in Guyana arrested on immigration charges.
http://spamlds.ning.com/forum/topics/30-lds-missionaries-in-guyana?...

6 October 2009
Two apparently drunk men broke and stole a 30-pound replica of the Book of Mormon off a statue on Temple Square.
http://spamlds.ning.com/forum/topics/weird-article-of-the-week

9 October 2009
Two teens arrested for vandalism of a meetinghouse in Alvin, Texas
http://spamlds.ning.com/xn/detail/2015866:Topic:16967

12 October 2009
Five LDS meetinghouses in Utah had windows broken, rocks with message "Stop spreading your lies, pagans."
http://spamlds.ning.com/xn/detail/2015866:Topic:16985

16 November 2009
Authorities are investigating a case of vandalism of Mormon headstones in a historical cemetery in a Wyoming ghost town.
http://www.mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/mormon_experience/?id=1169...

28 November 2009
Two men shot at a Church dance in Ontario, California. According to the linked source, The men were
"attending a dance at the church when a fight broke out and an unknown number of suspects opened fired outside. Police did not know whether the two men were targeted or were hit randomly. No one has been arrested and the motive for the shooting is under investigation.

This one may not be related to anti-Mormonism, but I've learned not to discount it because investigations often turn up surprising facts or sometimes individual incidents are part of a string of related events.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/11/two-men-shot-and-inju...

January 2010
An LDS family in the vicinity of Sacramento, California (Natomas) had their car vandalized with anti-Mormon messages
http://news.yahoo.com/video/local-15749667/17571970

18 January 2010
A suspicious package was left in the parking lot of an LDS meetinghouse in Menifee, California (between L.A. and San Diego). A police hazardous response team investigated and found a rock wrapped up in a package to appear like an explosive device. Police consider it a malicious prank.
http://www.swrnn.com/southwest-riverside/2010-01-18/news/suspicious...

27 January 2010
Man arrested in a month-long hate-crime spree that defaced several churches with anti-Christian and anti-Semitic grafitti. The individual is also a suspect in the setting of a fire at a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Snoqualmie, Washington. The arrested man's family claim the suspect is mentally ill.

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