TaMaryn Waters

Democrat staff writer

CRAWFORDVILLE — The FBI is leading the investigation of what appear to be hate crimes at two predominantly black churches in Wakulla County. Church signs and marquees were spray-painted with the letters"KKK." There was also a third incident of "KKK" sprayed on a parked truck at the Wildwood Golf Course, 3870 Coastal Highway. Federal officers are working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office.

Few details have been released but officials indicate the incidents took place overnight Saturday or early Sunday morning.

Targeted churches were Pilgrim Rest Primitive Baptist Church, 189 Harvey-Melton Road off Coastal Highway, and New Bridge Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 1282 Spring Creek Highway — the venue of a recent contentious town hall meeting in the wake of racially insensitive online comments made by a WCSO deputy.

The incidents have rattled many Crawfordville residents, including church leaders.

Like every Sunday, New Bridge Hope's Pastor Derek Howard parked in his usual spot.

He arrived around 8:30 a.m., before the start of Sunday school service. Howard spotted the black letters spray-painted on the church marquee, and immediately looked behind him.

"I saw it as a threat. I didn't know if someone was behind me or still in the area," he said.

Minutes went by and he calmed down. He thought, "Well, God's got it. I'll be alright."

Howard said the disturbing incident will not stop the church from its mission. "We're going to continue to preach the word and teach the word," he said. "This is a hate crime on the church and the membership here, but it's also on the community as a whole."

Ruth Francis, a member of New Bridge Hope, said she feels sorry for whoever committed this act.

"This is 2014 and they're still in the olden days," Francis said.

New Bridge Hope, with roughly 100 members, is adjacent to a small grocery store and is easily accessible from the road. Pilgrim, with roughly 40 to 45 active members, sits about a quarter mile off a dirt road. Its blue and white church sign is perched just at the dirt road's entrance off Coastal Highway.

Some say the defacing isn't an accurate reflection of racial attitudes in Wakulla. Others argue racism has deep roots in the rural county.

The incidents come on the heels of a Nov. 28 town hall meeting hosted by the NAACP and the suspension of five Wakulla deputies last week over online comments.

Deputy Richard Moon took to Facebook and stated, "Damn cockroaches! Squash 'em all!!!! I say we rally for Wilson, who's with me?" in response to the grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson, a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown, a black teen. Moon was the first to be suspended with pay.

Four more Wakulla County deputies were suspended last week with pay following "insensitive comments:" Undersheriff Trey Morrison, Sgt. Eddie Wester, Detective Rick Buckley and Detention Deputy Jeff Carroll.

Anginita Rosier, president of the Wakulla NAACP Organizing Committee, believes there's a connection.

"We feel (the KKK spray-painting incident) is directly related to the incident related to the Sheriff's Department and the officers who have been suspended so far, pending the outcome of the investigation," Rosier said.

Wakulla Sheriff Charlie Creel was visibly disturbed when he was at New Bridge Hope church. He said, "This is the kind of thing that just galls me.

"With other problems we've had with some deputies who are on suspension and we're doing an internal affairs investigation, I've got that. Stuff happening in Missouri. Stuff happening in New York City, and we've got this stuff coming in Wakulla County," Creel said.

He said it is a small town where most everyone knows everyone. A trip to a grocery store is a social gathering because residents are bound to run into someone they know.

"For somebody in this little small community to do something stupid like this, it's senseless," Creel said. "We're going to find out who did it, and I encourage whoever did to turn themselves in. Turn yourself in so we don't have to hunt you down."

Creel said he's considering offering a reward for tips leading to suspects.

An FBI spokesman based in Jacksonville confirmed the agency is partnering with FDLE in the investigation, but declined to offer other details.

Word of the defacing spread like wildfire among Wakulla residents. Some said one good thing came out of the message intended to bolster hate.

Wakulla United Methodist Church canceled its second morning service and its congregants headed to New Bridge Hope. Roughly 40 members, all white, came out ina show of solidarity

"I thought that was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen," Howard said. "What I saw was a predominately white church come to a predominately black church to say we love you, we care about you and we're here to support you and we're family."

Pastor Susie Horner of Wakulla United Methodist Church, said she was dumbfounded when she learned what had happened.

"There's no place for this kind of stupidity," Horner said. "If you're trying to get a message across that there's hate in everything, well I'm sorry. You missed a good opportunity today to see there's a lot of love in this community and in this world.

"So guess what? You failed," Horner said.

After church service, many continued to hug and chat before heading home. United Methodist Church member Chris Russell called the defacings "disgusting" and said they don't represent Wakulla County as a whole.

Pilgrim Rest member Juliet Hunter, lifelong church member and Wakulla resident, also was appalled by the incident but she said racism isn't new in the small community.

"Racism in Wakulla has existed for years," Hunter said. "When people do hate crimes like this, you just have to pray for them."

She said Pilgrim Rest Church Pastor Otis Walker didn't delve into details during church service since young children were listening, but Hunter overheard one 6-year-old girl ask her mother, "What does KKK mean?"

Hunter said she hurt for the child and the parent forced to explain the situation.

Walker, even hours after church service, was still disgusted. When he and his wife first drove up to turn on the church's dirt road, they noticed the defaced church sign.

"We don't bother anybody. Why are they bothering us?" Walker said his wife asked. The "why" is the burning question on Walker's mind, too.

"I think that was a hate incident. The people who did this probably knew it was a black church. That's the way I feel," Walker said. "I'm thinking Ferguson is spilling over this way as far as attitude is concerned."

Morning update:

Wakulla residents this morning were shocked by what appears to be a hate crime when KKK signs were spray painted on two predominately black churches.The targeted churches were Pilgrim Rest Primitive Baptist Church, 189 Harvey-Melton Road, and New Bridge Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 1282 Spring Creek Highway – the venue where outraged residents and members of the national and state NAACP convened a Nov. 28 town hall meeting following online comments made by Wakulla County Sheriff's Deputy Richard Moon.

"I was just shocked about the whole situation," said Anginita Rosier, president of the Wakulla NAACP Organized Committee, while standing outside New Bridge. "The fact that you would have individuals who would resort to these means, this has been a shock to the whole community. Black and white."

Moon was suspended with pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation. He posted insensitive comments on social media following the controversial grand jury decision not to indict a Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson over the filling of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black teen.

Four more Wakulla County deputies were suspended last week with pay.

Dale Landry, vice president of the Florida State Conference of the NAACP, who's in Crawfordville, said New Bridge's pastor discovered its church marquee had been spray painted this morning prior to setting up for Sunday school services starting at 10:30 a.m.

"Folks believe it was done over night," Landry said.

Check back at @TaMarynWaters on Twitter and Tallahassee.com for more updates.