Boston police seek suspect after Juneteenth items burned outside African Meeting House

Boston police are asking the public’s help to identify a man suspected of tearing open a package of Juneteenth materials and burning some contents outside the African American Meeting House, part of the Museum of African American History.

The incident occurred around 8:07 a.m. June 3 at the historic building at 46 Joy St. in Boston, police said in a statement. Officers spoke with a staff member who reported that a package belonging to an employee had been torn open, with some contents scattered and burned beside the building.

The package contained items related to Juneteenth, police said.

Noelle Trent, president and chief executive of the museum’s Boston and Nantucket campuses, told WGBH that security video showed a suspect taking an Amazon package, going through its contents and scattering them across the property before lighting several items on fire.

“It was very distressing for us and we called the National Park Service Law Enforcement as we are a partner of NPS and they came out and are conducting the investigation,” Trent told WGBH.

Trent said the package contained materials for the museum’s upcoming Juneteenth celebration, including decorations, games, stickers, bingo cards and other paper items.

“So it really was Juneteenth-specific,” Trent told the station. “But everything is clearly identified as Juneteenth.”

Boston police described the suspect as a white male wearing a dark jacket, a light-colored shirt or sweatshirt underneath, dark pants and white sneakers. Police said he appeared to carry a light-colored bag or package in one still image.

Law enforcement has not determined whether the incident was a hate crime. But Trent told WGBH the episode was alarming because of what was burned and where it happened.

“For us, this feels like a hate crime,” Trent said. “The proximity of burning something near the oldest existing Black church building in the country is quite unnerving. And we also have to look at what history says.”

The African Meeting House, built in 1806, is considered the oldest existing Black church building in the United States and is located on Beacon Hill.

Follow along with other art crime stories at Urgent Matter’s art crime tracker.