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Atlanta police and authorities are investigating after four confederate flags were found Thursday morning at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church and MLK Center Center for Nonviolent Social Change. All four flags have been removed, however this incident comes just a few days after white supremacists invaded a child’s birthday party, in an Atlanta suburb, carrying guns and shouting racial slurs.

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Reverend Shannon Jones, of the Ebenezer Baptist Church spoke out about the incident. He told the press, Our grounds men were so upset,” upon finding the flags, “[so] they took pictures and then they moved them.” The flags were found around 6AM and reported to the nearby National Park Service shorty after.

Atlanta police Chief George Turner was on the scene and said his agency was working with federal authorities to figure out what charges could be brought against the suspects. The police chief said they have not ruled out a hate crime. Atlanta police are looking for two white males who were caught on surveillance cam leaving the flags around the property.

Rev. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church said, “Let the message go out that we will not be shaken by this, This is a terrorist act.” He continued, “It was disturbing and sickening, but unfortunately not terribly surprising,” adding, “We’ve seen this kind of ugliness before.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, which is just blocks away from the home of King’s grandparents where he lived as a child. The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, which includes the historic church and its new building where congregants now meet has been victimized by the hate groups placing the flag on the grounds in the past.

Source ABC