Man Sets Fire to Nativity Scene

Breitbart ^ | January 6, 2006

[NYer]

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) --

A man walked into a church, doused a nativity scene with a flammable liquid and set it ablaze in front of a practicing choir, police said.

Robert Mills, 40, of San Pablo, was arrested Friday night while hiding in a park minutes after police said he walked into St. Cornelius Parish and announced he was going to set the church on fire.

Mills told everyone to leave but blocked the doorway until he began showering the sanctuary with the liquid, giving choir members a chance to escape, said Richmond Police Lt. Enos Johnson.

The fire destroyed the nativity scene, a lectern and carpeting, and caused extensive smoke damage. No one was injured.

Prosecutors will likely charge Mills with arson and possibly false imprisonment because the building was occupied when the fire occurred, police said.

"If they establish it's a hate crime, they could go in that direction," Johnson said.

[Lee N. Field]

Was the guy armed? How big was the choir?

[Reaganesque]

IF it is determined to be a hate crime?! If... Had it been a mosque the article would have read "In what is widely seen as a hate crime..." But, this was an attack on a Christian church so, "we've got to understand the root causes of his anger..."

[DManA]

If a guy burns down a church filled with people that's bad but we need to understand him. If he does it out of "hate", that is unforgivable. Just trying to understand the new rules here.

[Mercat]

exactly... even if the choir was mostly female, what a bunch of cowards.

[PzLdr]

"If they establish it was a hate crime"? Why else would he seek to burn down a Church?

[Pontiac]

Was the guy armed?

You might consider a flammable liquid and an ignition source a weapon.

I personally do not relish the idea of being set alight.

Given the choice of fighting a man with a can of gasoline and a Zippo or escaping I’ll take the door.

He might set the both of you on fire just for laughs.

I am a Christian myself but a church is after all just a building.

If he had been threatening any of the people I would agree with you.

Under the circumstances described I’ll side with the Choir.

What I don’t understand is the article says that he blocked the door way. Any church has to have more than one door.

[livius]

I agree - somebody with a can of gas and a Zippo is extremely dangerous, and all the more so because somebody armed with those things is probably a nut. Do you remember the attack on a church in Guayana (I think) by people who were believed to be Rastafarians, where they killed and seriously injured a number of parishioners and clergy by dousing the aisles and parishioners with gasoline and setting it alight?

Personally, I think this guy should be up on attempted homicide. And if it had been a mosque he attacked, he would be.

[RobbyS]

If they were black women, he would have been taking his life in his hands.

[Clevenger]

The man was obviously mentally unbalanced.

[PzLdr]

Could well be. But until a determination is made by a criminal court of competent jurisdiction that the defendant is "Not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect", either by plea or after trial; he 's prosecutable. And I don't think that defense will fly.

[SAMS]

He will have some lawyer convince a jury that he had been molested by a priest, suffering from PTSD and he'll be hailed as yet another "victim" He'll go free.

[Pontiac]

they killed and seriously injured a number of parishioners and clergy by dousing the aisles and parishioners with gasoline and setting it alight?

When they start pouring the gasoline on the people that is when you start getting physical.

Once the gas is out of the can you might as well through caution to the wind because you know you are going to die anyway.

Once they light the match it is too late.

[PzLdr]

His problem [from an insanity defense point of view] is severalfold: the planning [he brought the accelerant and matches with him], letting the people go, but only after he put down the accelerant [and blocking the exit door unit he was ready to let them leave]. That shows cognitive skills and processing that belie criminal insanity. As for the other defenses, who knows.

[tob2]

"I pity the fool."

[right-wingin_It]

It's not a "hate crime." Because, in essence, all crimes are hate crimes...This term "hate crime" is just an invention of the left to make certain groups (like minorities), to have a special, more superior status, over others. And how can a judge or jury ever distinguish between a hate crime or not?...Can they really see what's in a persons heart? Hate (and Love, and any other emotion for that matter) are for God to judge, as it's His authority. Let's not buy into the hype...time to de-program ourselves.

[PzLdr]

Hate Crime Legislation, like a lot of current criminal law is "feel good" legislation. Legislatures cook up this crap, without any thought or concern about how it will be enforced, or even if it can be.

Having said that, not all crime is hate crime. Sometimes, "it's just business".

[AnAmericanMother]

Our bass section would have dogpiled this guy. We have three basses (including my husband) that are HUGE guys - 6'4" to 6'6" and well north of 250 pounds.

How hard is it to pick up a chair and deck the guy, anyhow? I would have had a shot at it myself before I let him set my church on fire.

[Mercat]

I have more gumption than sense and although I'm not black, I doubt whether I would have left without some sort of confrontation.