Milwaukee church vandalized, firecracker thrown inside

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee church will welcome worshipers on Sunday for the first time since an unwelcome guest smashed a window and threw a firecracker inside.

The backstory:

Ben Robinson, pastor of Good Samaritan Westside Community Church, said someone walked to the church near 52nd and Burleigh on Tuesday night. Surveillance video showed the person smash a window and toss a lit firecracker inside. The next day, Robinson said they found broken glass covering the floor and scorch marks streaking the walls.

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"It exploded, caught things on fire and burned up the wall," he said.

What they're saying:

Robinson said his focus isn't on what happened – it's how the church is coming together and moving forward.

"It’s worlds better than what it was on Tuesday," he said. "They’re not walking into the damage that happened, but they’re walking into the resilience that we displayed."

Repairs at Good Samaritan Westside Community Church after vandalism act

Inside a church named for good Samaritans, it's good Samaritans themselves who are wielding brushes and erasing the work of what Robinson called "bad actors."

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"We’ve had people call, we’ve had people send donations, we’ve had people show up," he said. "There’s much more of us than there is them."

What's next:

Robinson said the next step is working with community leaders and partners on ways to get those bad actors out of the community while the church brushes this off and moves forward.

Ben Robinson, pastor of Good Samaritan Westside Community Church

"I was working on this sermon before this happened, so it just kind of falls in line," he said. "We’re going to keep feeding, we’re going to keep clothing, we’re going to ramp that up, we’re going to keep servicing our youth."

What you can do:

Robinson said he's cooperating with police, and he hasn't had any updates on an arrest of the person who vandalized the church. If you have any information that could help, police would like to hear from you.