Several houses of worship hit by crime across DMV
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — A Buddhist temple in Silver Spring was recently targeted by Romanian crime group, Romas, earlier in April and lost nearly $20,000 in the attack.
Wat Thai Washington, D.C.’s monks said they are now short of $20,000 that mainly stemmed from donations.
“They walked like they came to join a memorial service, ceremony,” said Ruangrit Thaithae, Vice President of Wat Thai Washington, D.C. who goes by the name Monk Jack. “Like they come and they go upstairs and break [into] the room and they tried looking for money.”
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The burglary occurred on April 7, a day before the temple planned on depositing the donations into the bank that help sustain operations at the place of worship.
Monk Jack told DC News Now he was “blindsided” by the crime act.
As a result, Montgomery County has provided $900,000 to nearly 140 organizations in the area to deter such behavior from happening. Wat Tai received $9,000 from the county to enhance their security with additional cameras, according to Monk Jack.
According to the county, the program funds are administered by the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Emergency Management (OEMHS). Earl Stoddard, assistant chief administrative officer of the county, said the funds are imperative to deter crime behavior in the area.
“County executives actually proposed an increase to $1.2 million in next fiscal year,” Stoddard told DC News Now. “We’ve seen an increase in number of requests each year and frankly we’ve seen an increase in recipients we’re able to serve each year.”
But religious leaders in the area believe more can be done to end such crime that’s targeting religious groups.
“I think the government [should look out for] all the Washington [metropolitan area]. Very good – like pay attention when we have festivals,” Monk Jack said.
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However, the Romanian crime group remains at large and several religious leaders in the area have expressed to the monk their concerned thoughts, Monk Jack said.
“We come here to make the peace,” Monk Jack said as he described his feelings towards the Romas.
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