Former Leader of United Methodist Church Caught Drawing Swastika On Neighbor’s Property
A pastor and recently retired President of the United Methodist Church in California has offered a fake, contrite apology after getting caught drawing a swastika on his Jewish neighbor’s property.
Mark Nakagawa spent 16 years as senior minister of Centenary United Methodist Church, Los Angeles, CA, before becoming the superintendent of the California-Pacific Conference. The C-PC oversees 85 United Methodist congregations on the East Coast and is one of the most liberal in the country.
He was caught on camera drawing a swastika on his neighbor Leah Grossman’s can of soda- the same neighbor he butted heads with after she hung a Jewish flag on her door following the October 7 attacks by Hamas, leading him to call her a “fascist”
When confronted about it, Nakawaga initially denied his involvement but later admitted his involvement, insisting it wasn’t drawn as a hate symbol but rather to educate his neighbor about the history of it as a Buddhist symbol of love.
Nakagawa maintains he had no idea she would react the way she did, later telling reporters, “The way I went about it, in hindsight, the way I went about it was not the right way to go about it. It was bad judgment on my part. I realize that”
Grossman told KTLA news that Nakagawa has apologized to her, but she refused to accept it, saying, “I know in my heart of hearts that it’s completely self-serving, has nothing to do with any kind of contrition as far as what was done to me, what was done to my children.’
Naturally, progressives have jumped to his defense, suggesting that far from being a left-wing Jewish-hating liberal, he instead must have been radicalized by the far right.
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Disgraceful. Thank God this pinhead is no longer behind a pulpit.
No charges for the hate crime and graffiti ?
So much hand-wringing and excuse-making. Let’s call this what it is. This guy meant to cause harm to his neighbor. So, he chose a symbol that would create fear in most Jews. This is a lesser hate crime than beating someone to death because they are wearing a kippah, but this kind of bullying is violent and causes considerable distress to the victim. When will we learn?
I don’t have unwavering respect for anyone in the clergy. We have seen too many capable of the very worst deeds! The Catholic Church was quite explicit with its aid and comfort to Nazis and to Hitler. I believe it is still true that Hitler was never excommunicated from the church. He was caught, and he should be charged.