Faith groups gather in solidarity after Kansas City, Kansas, organization vandalized

More than 100 people gathered Thursday evening in a show of solidarity after the building of a Kansas City, Kansas, organization was vandalized with symbols of hate.

On Oct. 21, the Dialogue Institute in Kansas City, Kansas, was ransacked and spray painted with swastikas and other offensive messages.

Eyyup Esen, director of the institute, said the vandalism was reported to local and federal authorities as a possible hate crime. Most of the nonprofit’s members are Muslims of Turkish origin, according to the organization.

The suspects were minors and the case has been sent to prosecutors.

Cathy Bien, a spokeswoman for Church of the Resurrection, which hosted the event, said the purpose was to show that people stand together.

“Kansas City is not a community that will tolerate hate and violence and racism,” she said. “And people from all different faiths are coming together to stand up and say, ‘This is not who we are and this is not who we are going to be,’ and to support one another.”

More than a dozen speakers addressed the crowd at the Leawood church.

Gavriela Geller, with the Jewish Community Relations Bureau, said she felt sorry such a crime had prompted the gathering — but also inspired.

“We know that feeling in your body and your gut when something like this happens, to feel that you’re targeted for who you are, what you believe in, how you were born and that sense of safety and security being shattered,” she said. “But we also know how it feels when you receive the kind of support that I see here tonight from our neighbors and our friends and those that love us.”

She gave a bag of cards that had been collected and drawings that had been created to Esen.

Lama Matt Rice, spiritual director of the Rime Buddhist Center, talked about the importance of understanding how people are interconnected.

“For me, the existence of the pain and suffering, the woundedness, the trauma and the heart brokenness that this act of hate has caused to our brothers and sisters — let us awaken in our hearts and minds, not just compassion, but also clarity and purpose about what we can do to help, because what we do always matters and what we do is always collective,” he said.

Videos with remarks from Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and Church of the Resurrection Rev. Adam Hamilton were also played.

The Dialogue Institute was established in 2002 with the goal of creating respect and cooperation among people of different faith groups and backgrounds. Esen said the institute is known for hosting gatherings during holidays such as Thanksgiving and Ramadan.