June 23, 2020
Statement on vandalism at Dominican Cemetery
On Monday, June 22, 2020, at approximately 9:30 p.m., Providence College public safety officers on patrol responded to a suspicious male subject in the Dominican Cemetery on campus. Officers searched the area and located a male subject in the process of defacing grave headstones and burning gravesite flags.
Officers approached the individual to question what he was doing and to confirm the vandalism when they noticed the suspect had painted swastikas and anti-Catholic language on the cemetery’s central cross and on several of the headstones, and was actively burning American flags that stood at some of the gravesites. The central cross and seven headstones were defaced. The College has repaired that damage.
While officers attempted to question the suspect, he struck one officer in the head and fled the scene. The College’s public safety officer was treated for his injuries at the hospital and later released.
The campus was locked down with a shelter in place order once it was confirmed that the suspect may have been hiding on campus. At 10:39 p.m., officers and K9 units from the Providence Police Department and PC Office of Public Safety began searching the campus. The suspect was located hiding in bushes on campus and was subsequently arrested by Providence police. An all-clear was issued to the campus at 11:17 p.m.
We loudly and unequivocally condemn this racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-Catholic action, and the desecration of the gravestones of our beloved, deceased Dominicans who served Providence College so well and so faithfully for many years. In addition, we condemn this action in support and solidarity with the Jewish members of our community, many of whom enjoyed the friendship of those late Dominican friars. PC has a long and proud history of collaboration with the Jewish community in Rhode Island.
Our Jewish-Catholic Theological Exchange is a significant part of campus life, and has promoted interreligious learning, understanding, and friendship between Christians and Jews for decades. Our community embraces love and mutual respect for all people; there is no place for hatred on our campus.
Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. ’80
President
Rev. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P. ’78 & ’82G
President-elect
