Volunteers at a Los Angeles church put up a “No Trespassing” sign when a black woman sat on its front lawn, video shows.
Alex Marshall-Brown, an actress who appeared as a stuntwoman in Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight,” posted a 5-minute clip Tuesday of her experience outside St. Paul’s First Lutheran Church in North Hollywood, where a volunteer told her she was unwelcome.
“I did notice that, why am I not welcome?” Marshall-Brown asks.
“Because this is private property,” the man replies.
“The church is not welcoming me?”
“No, it’s not,” the church volunteer replies. “We have a lot of problems with people here from the park vandalizing and we don’t want anybody on the private property. If you want to stay on the sidewalk, that’s OK. The mayor says you can have all the sidewalk you want, but you can’t be on the grass — that’s our property.”
The man then acknowledges Marshall-Brown hasn’t vandalized anything as he posts a “No Trespassing” sign on a tree, video shows.
“You know, we used to be real nice about it,” the man says. “Not anymore, sorry. When people aren’t nice, we’re not nice.”
“How have I been unkind to you, sir?” Marshall-Brown asks.
“You haven’t,” the man admits. “But we have to treat everybody the same — all lives matter.”
“I said nothing about any lives, sir,” Marshall-Brown replies.
The church volunteer continues to urge Marshall-Brown to move along –saying he was willing to call cops over the standoff — until another woman walks up, video shows.
The woman claims Marshall-Brown posed a threat to children by sitting on the grass.
“You apparently have your own agenda,” the woman tells Marshall-Brown.
In a statement released Wednesday, church officials admitted Marshall-Brown “posed no risk or threat” to the property and said the incident was mishandled. The volunteers involved in the exchange have also stepped down from their roles.
“The disrespect demonstrated by the individuals does not represent the attitude of St. Paul’s First,” said Santiago Botero, acting principal at St. Paul’s school. “I am personally offended by what I saw in the video and would like to apologize on behalf of St. Paul’s First.”
As Christians, Botero said, church volunteers had a duty to show “love and mercy” to others.
“Unfortunately, this did not happen yesterday,” the statement continued.
A message seeking comment from Marshall-Brown was not immediately returned early Thursday.
Marshall-Brown told CBS Los Angeles she met Wednesday with church leaders who were “very contrite” about what they saw on the video. The church now intends to introduce racial bias training, she told the station.