NEWS STORY: Progress reported in church burning cases

c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ A new report by the federal government task force investigating the highly publicized rash of church burnings says that authorities have had a fair measure of success in arresting and charging suspects in the cases.”The report shows that we have been remarkably successful in solving the crimes,”President Clinton […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ A new report by the federal government task force investigating the highly publicized rash of church burnings says that authorities have had a fair measure of success in arresting and charging suspects in the cases.”The report shows that we have been remarkably successful in solving the crimes,”President Clinton said in announcing the results of the National Church Arson Task Force’s first report during his weekly radio address Saturday (Jan. 18).”Since January 1995, 143 suspects have been arrested in connection with 107 fires at churches and other houses of worship,”Clinton said.”This rate of arrest is double the general arrest rate for arsons _ and three-quarters of these arrests occurred during the seven months following the formation of the task force.” The task force, a cooperative effort of the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Justice, has investigated 328 arsons, bombings or attempted bombings that occurred at houses of worship between Jan. 1, 1995, and Jan. 7, 1997.

Forty-eight defendants have been convicted in connection with 43 fires since Jan. 1, 1995, the report said.


But even as arrests have been made in some cases, new incidents continue to occur. There were 24 arsons, bombings or attempted bombings in November and 11 in December. In each month, there were fewer incidents at African-American houses of worship than in other houses of worship. The apparent targeting of African-American churches first gave the arson issue its high visibility.”While the number of reported fires each month appears to have decreased from a peak in June 1996, there have been a substantial number of fires reported in each month since June,”the report said.

Of the 328 arson investigations, at least 138 have been at African-American churches, with the majority of those in the South.

Deval Patrick, the outgoing assistant attorney general who co-chaired the task force, said in a recent White House briefing that there continues to be no evidence of an overall conspiracy in the cases, but rather a variety of reasons for the arsons.”We have not established an overarching criminal plan that connects all of the fires or a large number of fires across the region or across the country for that matter,”he said.”There is no one reason, which is pretty much what we thought all along. Many of the fires are driven by racial hostility, many by religious hostility. There are an astonishing number … of fires committed by juveniles which I think is among the most disturbing features of these fires.” Forty-three percent of the arson-related arrests in the last two years _ 56 males and 6 females _ have been of juveniles between the ages of 7 and 17.

Patrick said the juveniles ranged from”pranksters”to those who clearly had racist motives to one”purported devil worshiper.” The report said that the 143 people arrested include 116 whites, 24 African-Americans and three Hispanics.

Investigators have determined motives in some cases involving houses of worship other than churches. Patrick said attacks on synagogues have frequently been proven to be anti-Semitic.

James E. Johnson, the Treasury Department assistant secretary who serves as the other co-chair of the task force, said a predominantly African-American mosque in South Carolina was found to be burned as the result of racist motives.

In his radio remarks, Clinton detailed both the government’s efforts and the work of average American citizens to address the problem.”People have crossed lines of faith and race and region to link arms in a united effort to rebuild and protect our houses of worship,”Clinton said.”I am reminded of what Joseph said in Genesis when he met up with the brothers who sold him into slavery: `You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.'” As the investigations continue, a variety of organizations are helping with the rebuilding process.


The report said that a cooperative effort between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Council of Churches and the Congress of National Black Churches has resulted in the rebuilding of 10 churches. Thirty additional churches are under construction.

Various organizations that have worked to assist in rebuilding efforts continue to raise and distribute money.

The National Council of Churches, a Protestant and Orthodox ecumenical group that has joined forces with Catholics, Jews and Muslims to raise money to rebuild burned churches, has given more than $4.5 million in cash and $675,000 in in-kind gifts to help rebuild 79 churches.

The Southern Baptist Convention has received and distributed $715,451 to its state organizations, who in turn, assist churches in their region.

The Christian Coalition has allocated $701,000 to 39 churches.

MJP END AMB

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