North Hollywood Church Apologizes For Volunteers Who Posted 'No Trespassing' Signs Because Of Black Woman Sitting Under Tree
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A demonstration was held Wednesday night after a woman filmed two men putting up a "No Trespassing" sign after she sat down on a patch of grass outside of St. Paul First Lutheran Church in North Hollywood.
In the video posted to social media, Alex Marshall-Brown can be heard saying, "I'm clearly not bothering anyone, I'm clearly sitting here doing work, so this is in excess of anything that needs to happen."
The men then confirm that the sign was, in fact, put up because she was sitting there and had been reported by one of the men on the video and another parishioner.
The church addressed the incident in a Facebook post, saying that the incident was not handled "in a way representative of the church or the school" and said the volunteers involved in the incident have stepped down from their positions.
"The disrespect demonstrated by the individuals does not represent the attitude of St. Paul's First," St. Paul's school's acting Principal Santiago Botero said in the statement. "I was out of town at the time of the incident, but I believe it could've and should've been handled more respectfully."
While the church has a policy against loitering within a certain radius of the church's school for the safety of the children in response to incidents of vandalism, Botero said Marshall-Brown was clearly not harming any person or property.
Marshall-Brown said she met with church leaders to discuss the incident on Wednesday.
"They were very contrite and willing to engage in a dialogue and acknowledge the fault of the incident, and they pointed out I was not deserving of that behavior," she said.
Marshall-Brown said the church said it would introduce sensitivity and racial bias training, but several groups said they planned to hold demonstrations outside of the church during Sunday services.
