Around $8,000 was stolen from a donation box at Pastor Corey Brooks' South Side church during a burglary, police said.
The burglary happened sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning at the New Beginnings Church located on 6600 block of South King Drive. A member of the church reported the incident to police Saturday morning.
Burglars entered the church through its back entrance and broke the glass in the doors. Brooks said he recorded death threats hours before the burglary, citing his public support for Bruce Rauner as the reason.
"Today, I'm going to show our community the damage and share with them the threats I've received," Brooks said in a statement. "We'll start on repairs -- not just the structural ones that are easy to fix, but the spiritual ones that are going to take some time -- and I'll pray for the people who did this."
Brooks is known as the "rooftop pastor" after he held a 94-day vigil on the roof of a former Super Motel at 6625 S. Martin Luther King Drive. Brooks held the vigil to gain support for building a community center in the abandoned building.
Area South detectives are investigating the burglary.
