Police have arrested a Macon, Ga., man accused of trespassing on church property. His reason for doing so? Releasing cockroaches onto the church’s front steps.
Members of Fountain Temple AME Church started noticing the problem in August, when roaches began appearing outside the foyer, The Macon County Telegraph reported. When the pastor’s husband, James Denson, set up a surveillance camera to monitor the building, he found footage of “a man on the porch with no shirt on and white cups or containers in his hands. He was there maybe 25 seconds, emptying cups of clinging cucarachas.”
The man came to be know as the “roach thrower,” whom police arrested on Sept. 13, about a month after he first began depositing roaches at the church. The man, Michael Walker, reportedly admitted to the crime, and the church will not press charges.
Walker never offered any explanation for his actions. Although some voodoo traditions do reference curses involving cockroaches, church members said they do not think it was related to any type of witchcraft.
“We are forgiving people. We just wanted to stop the harassment,” said Denson. “All I want is for him to respect the church and the people who attend.”
