A Long Island man was arrested for smashing a pair of statues in front of churchgoers before a Sunday sermon, telling worshippers at Mineola’s Corpus Christi Church “This is a false religion.”
Nassau County police arrested Aldo Hernandez, 26, after he entered the church around 5 p.m., when he “became irate and began causing a disturbance.”
According to cops, Hernandez approached the altar and pushed back a pair of religious statues valued at $10,000. He was charged with criminal mischief and arraigned Monday.
Pix11 News reported the suspect also allegedly berated parishioners for “worshipping dead religious idols” and claimed “Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary are fake idols.”
One witness told the outlet Hernandez may have had some misgivings about the Catholic church.
“We only worship God, and there are a lot of misunderstandings,” the worshipper said.
Prosecutors said the church’s surveillance video recorded the incident that caused multiple people to ask Hernandez to leave, according to ABC7 Eyewitness news.
Churchgoer Aldina Avila said one of the statues was 109 years old and recently restored.
“Why would anybody want to do that?” Avila said of the property destruction.
