Briar Creek Road Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina
At least six predominantly black places of worship have burned under suspicious circumstances in the span of just a few days and authorities from Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas are warning arsonists could be on the prowl.
Authorities have already confirmed half of the incidents were due to arson, the Daily Mail reported. The other three are under investigation, with rulings on the causes pending.
The fires come on the heels of the shooting death of nine at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, allegedly at the hands of Dylann Roof, whom authorities say was trying to spark a race war.
Among the churches attacked by arsonists: “The College Hills Seventh Day Adventist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee; the God’s Power Church of Christ in Macon, Georgia; and the Briar Creek Road Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
WTLV reported the fire at College Hills Adventist was started when arsonists heaped bales of hay by the door and set them ablaze.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s going on?’” said Pastor Cleveland Hobdy III, to Knoxville television station WATE, when he learned the “horror” of his College Hills church burning. “When I look at this I see, I think of an intention to try to destroy this entire church. It makes me sad. It’s sad either way that someone would put their mind to try to damage a church that’s trying to help people.”
Authorities still aren’t sure if the burnings are racially-tinged and can be ruled hate crimes.
“Our investigators did not find any direct evidence that would lead them to believe at this time that this is a hate crime,” said Charlotte Fire Department spokesperson Cynthia Robbings Shah-Khan to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch, on the Briar Creek Road Baptist burning. “Of course, that is a possibility.”
Investigations are still underway into the cause of burnings at the Fruitland Presbyterian Church in Gibson County, Tennessee; the Glover Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Warrenville, South Carolina; and the College Heights Baptist Church in Elyria, Ohio.
The SPLC suggests the burnings are possibly related to the recent pressure for South Carolina, and other government and business entities, to drop support and display of the Confederate flag.
Meanwhile, federal authorities have been called to help local officials determine the cause of some of the church burnings.
The church fires occurred between June 22 and June 27.
from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2015/06/29/6-black-churches-burn-in-span-of-few-days/
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