LAUREL, Md. (WUSA) -- A black rag doll covered in racial slurs, obscenities and swastikas found outside the City of Zion Church in Laurel on Sunday has prompted a hate crime investigation by Laurel police.
"It's very disturbing, especially to us, because of lynchings and things of that nature," said Pastor Gregory Strong, who along with a church worker, discovered the rag doll hanging from a cherry tree outside the church.
"There was a lot of foul language on the doll and what was even more disturbing , there were a lot of references to Obama," added Strong, who believes the doll was an attempt to "intimidate" black voters on the eve of the midterm elections.
"It was scary, nothing to really worry about, but it's a scare tactic straight from the pit of hell," said Sheila Thompson, a church minister.
