Man smashes St. Mary's picture at Ethiopian Orthodox Church in DC

Metropolitan police arrested a man after he allegedly smashed a picture of St. Mary at a church in Northwest on Sunday.
The man reportedly grabbed a painting from a shelf outside an Ethiopian Orthodox church on Buchanan Street near 14th Street. Ethiopian Orthodox is a Christian religion that is the predominant religion in Ethiopia, NBC Washington says.

St. Mary is also known as the "Virgin Mary" and is considered in Christian religions to be the mother of Jesus.

The man also reportedly said, "Mary has no power over us."

Shocked parishioners watched it happen and called the police. The suspect was not a member of the church, according to witnesses.


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Police arrested a man accused of desecrating a religious icon at a church in northwest D.C. Sunday.

The suspect started to go into St. Mary’s, an Ethiopian Orthodox church on Buchanan Street near 14th Street, but he turned around instead, grabbed a picture of St. Mary from a shelf outside the church, smashed it on the ground and said, “Mary has no power over us.”

People followed him from the church and flagged down police, who took the man into custody.

“We are concerned if this has any motive from another religion,” a church spokesman said.

Police must determine how to classify the alleged act.

“Police asked me what the value of that picture is,” the church spokesman said. “I told them it’s priceless. It’s faith. You can’t put money on it.”

Ethiopian Orthodox is a Christian religion branched off from the ancient Coptics, and it’s the predominant religion in Ethiopia.

Source: nbcwashington.com