Local faith leaders gather to decry book burning seen as possible hate crime – Cleveland.com

Local faith leaders listen to Dr. Kate Gillooly of Heights Christian Church speak during an event held Monday afternoon at Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights. The religious leaders called to offset the hate of burned books with a loving act of collecting books that uplift.Jen Cohen
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — In response to the actions of a man who reportedly burned library books in an act of hate toward several groups, local faith leaders banded together Monday (May 12) to counteract that hate with love.
In April, according to a Beachwood police report, the man applied for and received a card from the Cuyahoga County Library’s Beachwood branch on April 3. The man withdrew, over two visits to the branch, a total of 100 books.
The books’ topics included Jewish history, African-American history and LGBTQ education.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL) later learned from the Princeton University Bridging Divides Initiative (PUBDI), a group that monitors and reports suspected hate crimes on social media, that the books were used in two hate-filled messages.
In one, the man showed on a social media site the first batch of 50 books he took out, with CCPL stickers affixed to them, with a caption stating that the library had been “cleansed” of the books.
In the second incident, PUBDI informed CCPL that the man, in another posting, had burned the 100 books.
When withdrawing the books, the man told a librarian that his son was part of the LGBTQ community and that he was trying to learn more about that community.
On Monday afternoon, Fairmount Presbyterian Church, 2757 Fairmount Blvd. in Cleveland Heights, hosted an Interfaith Group Against Hate (IGAH) event, with two of its pastors speaking — Senior Pastor the Rev. Ryan Wallace, and Associate Pastor the Rev. Lindsay Warren-Lewis. They were joined by speakers from other IGAH-member congregations.
“Scripture tells us, ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him,” Wallace said while standing in front of the church. “For by doing this, you will heap burning coals upon his head.’ When we are talking about people who are literally heaping burning coals on our books, those people are my enemy, they are our enemies.
“And so we will respond by contributing 10 books for every book burned, a total of 1,000 books back into the community to promote understanding and compassion.”
Also participating in the IGAH-organized event was Dr. Kate Gillooly, a minister with Heights Christian Church.
Asked her thoughts about the book burning, Gillooly stated, “I was horrified when I heard about the book burning incident, and I noticed many comments on social media from people concerned that ‘nothing was being done’ to hold the man accountable and remedy the situation.
“I trust local law enforcement to work with the library to bring the perpetrator to justice, but I believe everyone can choose to be part of a positive and constructive response that helps our community heal and thrive.
“I’m grateful to be a part of IGAH, whose purpose and goal is to counteract hate with love, prejudice with knowledge, and polarization with unity. We call on everyone to participate in our effort to contribute 1,000 books, to read and discuss books lifting up diverse cultures and experiences, to educate themselves and others on the gift of diversity in our community and country, and to support our libraries as centers of knowledge and community-building.”
Leadership for IGAH includes clergy and some lay people from its member congregations. For this event, Donna Weinberger, Rev. Wallace, and Congregation Mishkan Or Senior Rabbi Robert Nosanchuk were key planners.
For more information about the book collection, ways to help, and upcoming book fairs and community book discussions, visit the IGAH website, igahcle.org.
CCPL has banned the man from its properties and revoked his borrowing privileges.
Police say the matter is under investigation as a possible hate crime. When the investigation is completed, the city prosecutor will determine if charges will be filed.
Read more from the Sun Press.
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