Suspicious package with swastika, 'bomb' message left at Cocoa church

J.D. Gallop, Florida Today
·2 min read

COCOA — A Cocoa pastor's Mother's Day message had to be delivered outdoors Sunday morning after a package bearing at least one Nazi swastika and the word "bomb" was found leaning on the doors of Clearlake Baptist Church.

The Brevard County sheriff's bomb squad responded to the site after 10:15 a.m. and removed the package, along with another found at a nearby congregation just after noon Sunday. No one was hurt and it was not immediately known if any arrests took place as a result of the investigation.

Brevard has had repeated incidents involving anti-Semitic materials — in most cases plastic baggies carrying flyers — being tossed on lawns from Melbourne Beach to Viera over the years. It is was not known if Sunday's incident was related to any of the other episodes.

"This is the first time something like this happened here," said the Rev. Joe Crandall of Clearlake Baptist Church, located in the 1600 block of Minnie Street. "When I came to the church this morning, someone said there was a package leaning on the front door. It had a Nazi swastikas and the word 'bomb' written on it. Our members, those who could, sat outside. The service was livestreamed on Facebook also," Crandall said.

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Crandall went ahead and delivered his sermon beneath the noontime sun on the importance of motherhood and her role in creating a stable family.

The sheriff's office did not comment on the incident. It was not immediately known if other congregations were targeted. "We have a world that is very sick," said Crandall, pastor of the 60-member congregation.

"We're in the end times and it will just get worse and worse."

J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. X, formerly known as Twitter: @JDGallop.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Cocoa church finds package labeled 'bomb,' decorated with swastika