Cross Burning Hate Crime Draws FBI to San Luis Obispo
The FBI is investigating a cross burning at the home of a black family in a predominantly white community in California. A terrorist tactic, once the hallmark of KKK, awoke a 19-year-old black woman through her bedroom window. The police arrived quickly and extinguished the flames, but not the memory.
The neighborhood of Arroyo Grande in San Luis Obispo County now has extra police patrols as rewards are being offered for information leading to an arrest of the perpetrators. The area is a mostly rural region with large farms, picturesque small towns, a state university, and a mostly white population.
The 11- foot tall wooden cross was stolen from Saint John’s Lutheran Church weeks ago. The cross burning is the first hate crime recorded in the county since 2002. Ironically, the cross was decorated with the bible verse, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”