LGBTQ-Supportive Texas Church Firebombed After Right-Wing YouTube Video

An LGBTQ-affirming church in Texas was firebombed just weeks after right-wing activists visited it, pretending to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, and then posted a video to YouTube dubbing the church “pagan and satanic.”

Law enforcement officials haven’t said the video was connected to the attack, nor have they characterized the bombing as a hate crime, but they are still investigating, NBC News reports.

The attack took place Sunday at the Community Unitarian Universalist Church in Plano, a suburb of Dallas. Just after midnight, “an incendiary device with a chemical accelerant was thrown or placed at the front doors of the main church building,” church staffers wrote on Facebook. The alarm system went off, and firefighters responded quickly and put out the flames, so damage was minimal, and no one was injured.

“Church officials have been reviewing building security and working with the Plano Police Department since the intrusion of a hate group in the church building during and after Worship Service on Sunday, June 25,” the post continued. “That group has posted video of their activities inside the church on various social media sites.”

Bo Alford, whose social media handle is “bodittle,” attended a service at the church with friends, then posted a video to YouTube July 12 titled “We Acted LGBT at LGBT Church.” He and his companions asked congregants about their beliefs; they said in the video that they wished to expose “false teachers.” The “pagan and satanic” comment comes at the end of the piece, which has received more than 200,000 views.

Alford calls himself a “Believer of Christ YouTuber/Boxer/Pro Lib Troller” in his social media bios. He often trolls LGBTQ+ people and their allies, NBC notes.

He has denied any connection to the attack on the Unitarian church. “First and foremost, my prayers go out to anyone effected by the fire,” he said in an email to NBC. “As to the accusations, My channel spreads the message of Jesus and his love for us. If you watch the video you will see the members of the church having nothing but nice things to say about us. She enjoyed our conversation and even ended it with a hug. The fact we are being labeled as a hate group and being tied to this fire in any way is appalling.”

Pictured: Bo Alford (right) and friends