Free Republic

Seven church fires so far this year have been ruled arson in the general east Texas area. What makes somebody burn a house of worship? The Klan used to do that, early in the last century and late in the century before that. I have nothing but contempt for anybody, of any race or creed, who would do such an evil thing. I found myself in a small town in Arkansas in the early 80s and began to realize the Klan was not just some fantasy. Coming from Dallas, this was quite a revelation to me, I couldn't believe they...

TYLER, Texas (AP) - Recent fires that destroyed or damaged several churches in eastern Texas were likely set by an individual or a group of people, federal authorities said Tuesday. Fires that broke out at two churches near Tyler on Monday have not yet been ruled arson, but authorities are investigating them as such. They were reported within an hour of one another and there were signs that at least one of the churches had been broken into. Since Jan. 1, eight churches—seven in eastern Texas and one in the central part of the state—have been set ablaze deliberately, authorities...

Area firefighters from multiple departments were scrambling to respond to at least two church fires within three miles of each other in Smith County on Monday night — the latest in a rash of East Texas church fires, many of which have been ruled arsons. Firefighters first responded to a fire at Dover Baptist Church, 21166 Farm-to-Market Road 1995, near the intersection with Texas Highway 110 North, where flames were tearing through the roof about 20 minutes after the first witnesses spotted it. Firefighters from various departments including Lindale, Van, Dixie, Winona and Red Springs were on the scene. A...

"Bradninch church blaze arson probe" Monday, February 08, 2010, 07:12 SNIPPET: "ARSONISTS are believed to be responsible for a fire that has destroyed part of a church in Bradninch. Church and Scout leaders have expressed their sadness at the blaze that broke out in an annexe at the back of the Bradninch Baptist Church just after 11pm on Friday." SNIPPET: "The fire service said 25 per cent of the roof and 50 per cent of the first floor of the annexe was severely damaged by fire, while half of the ground floor was damaged by smoke. Investigations are on-going but...

"3 accused of Taiping church-school arson acts plead not guilty" SNIPPET: "TAIPING, Feb 8 — Three men pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here today to causing mischief by fire at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Convent and the All Saints Church on Jan 10. Andidi Rosidi, 22, Abdul Fattah Shaharuddin, 29, and Muhamad Ab. Wahab, 20, all self-employed and from Kamunting, were produced in the Magistrate’s Court last Tuesday but no plea was recorded then because the Sessions Court judge was on leave and they were not represented. Andidi is charged with committing the offence at SMK Convent in...

DALLAS (AP) - A sheriff's dispatcher says fires have struck two more rural east Texas churches, just hours after investigators announced that a blaze last week marked the eighth arson against a house of worship in the state this year. A Smith County sheriff's dispatcher says fire struck a Baptist church near Tyler Monday night. Another hit a church about 3 miles away. The fires come the same day the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced a blaze that happened last week was the seventh east Texas church fire of 2010 to be deliberately set.

Pastors on Edge After String of Texas Church Fires Thursday, February 04, 2010 * Print * ShareThis TYLER, Texas — Eight Texas churches barely 150 miles apart have caught fire since New Year's Day, putting pastors and congregations on edge and on guard wondering whether theirs is next. Authorities determined seven of those fires were intentionally set and they are investigating one that broke out Thursday as a possible arson. There have been no reported injuries or arrests, and federal officials aren't saying whether there's a connection. Most people in these parts can't help but think they are.

SNIPPET: "EDMONTON — A man has been charged with setting fires that destroyed two Wetaskiwin churches in October. RCMP arrested 23-year-old Peter Terence Jones Jan. 20 in Wawa, Ont. on two counts of arson and three counts of break and enter. He is charged with an Oct. 13 fire that levelled Wetaskiwin First United Church and a fire the next day that damaged St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church. The blazes put the community's religious leaders on high alert and some implemented extra safety precautions." SNIPPET: "Jones is scheduled to appear in Wetaskiwin court Jan. 26."

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - The East Texas church arson investigation continues as federal, state and local law enforcement establish a command center in Tyler, sharing information that could lead to an arrest of the person or persons suspected of lighting six churches on fire. Investigators say that they won't stop the search until the suspects are caught. "It is our community," said Chief Neal Franklin, with the Tyler Fire Department. "We care deeply about this." "We go to churches here," said Clay Alexander, an ATF agent. "We have friends that go to churches here." "We're very serious about catching any...

Two British men have been arrested in connection with arson attacks on a medieval synagogue on the Greek island of Crete. The two men, who have not been named, are being held in the coastal town of Hania. A Greek man is also in custody and two Americans are being sought. Hania's Etz Hayyim synagogue has been targeted by arsonists twice this month. The UK embassy in Athens said two British men had been arrested on charges of arson. The BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens said, according to the police, the men are aged 23 and 33 and are nightclub...

Stephen James Murphy was detained in Texas by the FBI in connection with an incident in 2006 at a construction site for townhouses.The FBI has arrested an environmental activist in connection with the attempted arson of unfinished town homes in Pasadena in 2006, authorities said Thursday. Stephen James Murphy, 43, was arrested without incident Wednesday at his home in Arlington, Texas, after being named in a criminal complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. According to the complaint, the Pasadena Fire Department responded to a construction site on Sept. 19, 2006, and found what...

Three Malaysian churches were attacked with firebombs, causing extensive damage to one, as Muslims pledged Friday to prevent Christians from using the word "Allah," escalating religious tensions in the multiracial country. Many Malay Muslims, who make up 60 percent of the population, are incensed by a recent High Court decision to overturn a ban on Roman Catholics using "Allah" as a translation for God in the Malay-language edition of their main newspaper, the Herald. The government says Allah, an Arabic word that predates Islam, is exclusive to the faith and by extension to Malays. It refuses to make an exception,...

A Hancock man convicted in the arson deaths of two young sisters — and recently charged with plotting to kill the girls’ mother — died Wednesday night at the North Branch Correctional Institution as a result of a possible homicide. The girls, former residents of Cumberland, died after being trapped in their second-floor bedroom of the house that was also occupied by Meyers and the girls’ mother, Melissa Wolf...He later told investigators he set the fire in hopes of receiving sympathy and donations from the community.

Youths burned 1,137 cars across France overnight as New Year's Eve celebrations once again turned violent, the French Interior Ministry said on Friday.

Pregnancy Center in Arizona Severely Burned in Apparent Arson Attack Whiteriver, AZ -- A pregnancy center in rural eastern Arizona that serves a predominantly native American population was severely burned in what appears to be an arson attack. The Living Hope Women's Center clinic has closed indefinitely as a result of a fire that gutted a portion of the building on December 20. http://www.LifeNews.com/state4688.html

An 11-year-old Florida girl and her 15-year-old boyfriend are accused of plotting to kill the girl's mother by setting her bedroom on fire while the woman slept, Florida authorities said Wednesday. Samantha Broadhead and Jack Ault have been charged with attempted murder and arson after the fire Tuesday in Clearwater — about 20 miles west of Tampa on Florida's Gulf Coast — MyFoxTampa.com reported. Clearwater Police Department detectives say the young couple poured gasoline on Nancy Broadhead's bedroom floor and bed, and then set the room aflame. Police say the pair escaped in the mother's 2007 Ford Focus. It was...

"Arson rampage leaves 2 men dead" "18 blazes within 2 hours strike homes, cars in Northampton neighborhood" By John M. Guilfoil Globe Correspondent SNIPPET: "NORTHAMPTON - Two people were killed early yesterday in one of at least 18 fires set during what the state’s top firefighter called the state’s worst day of arson in memory."

Note: Photos included. Last updated 8:37 p.m. PT “Monfort, accused cop killer, pleads not guilty” KOMO-TV SNIPPET: “Investigators said DNA evidence found at the scene of Brenton’s slaying and the earlier arson at a police maintenance yard were a match to Monfort. His DNA was found on identical American flag bandannas dropped at both scenes as “calling cards,” according to court documents. In addition, a rifle found in Monfort’s apartment is an identical ballistic match to the weapon used to kill Brenton and wound his partner, Britt Sweeney, according to investigators. Prosecutors accused Monfort of placing bombs at the scene...

A year ago someone set fire to Gov Sarah Palin's home church: The Wasilla Bible Church. Today, the arsonist (or arsonists) is still out there. But the attack was MUCH more than arson: It was an act of attempted murder and a monstrous crime. The arson/attempted murder was started Dec 12, 2008, about 9:30 p.m. Alaska time.The reported temperature outside at the time of the blaze was -20 below zero. Inside the church were a small group of 5 women and 2 children working on a crafts project according to Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele. Providentially, all made it out...

A Satan-loving arsonist on Wednesday torched a Bronx church that had opened a soup kitchen with a generous donation from late Yankees broadcaster Bobby Murcer. The charred sanctuary of Glory of Christ Church bore tell-tale signs of arson - and the pyscho firestarter even defaced the walls with signs of devil worship. A pentagram, "666" and "Hail to Satan" were spray-painted on the walls, along with, "We hate Jews and Christians" and "GET OFF OUR BLOCK."

Author Nonie Darwish, whose new book warns of the advance of Islamic law in the West, completed a scheduled speech at Boston University but not without the interruption of an apparent arson in a nearby restroom. Darwish, whose recently scheduled addresses at both Columbia and Princeton were canceled following Islamic opposition, said the students who arranged her Boston University appearance this week believe the fire was an attempt to hinder her message. "I am still in shock," she said in an e-mail to supporters. "Fifteen minutes before I was to speak at Boston University a fire was set on purpose...

A year ago someone set fire to Wasilla Bible Church. Today, that person is still out there. The Wasilla Police Department is leading the ongoing investigation, but none of the leads they've chased so far have ended up panning out. "The investigation is still open, and we're still asking the public to contact us if anybody has heard anything," Deputy Chief Greg Wood said. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the state fire marshal's office both assisted in the initial investigation, and the state crime laboratory collected evidence at the scene. An ATF press release issued...

WASHINGTON - A COURT in the southern US state of Tennessee sentenced a man to more than 14 years in prison for burning down a local mosque, the US Justice Department said on Monday. Michael Corey Golden, 24, was sentenced to 14 years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to having vandalised and burned down the mosque in February 2008. Golden admitted to using Molotov cocktail explosives to destroy the mosque, which he ignited while a co-defendant painted swastikas and the phrase 'White Power' on the walls of the building in the town of Columbia. 'The right to...

SNIPPET: “Accusing the alleged cop killer of waging a “one-man war against police,” King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg announced charges that could see Christopher J. Monfort executed. Monfort, 41, has been charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the Oct. 31 slaying of Seattle Police Officer Tim Brenton, Satterberg announced Thursday. Prosecutors also charged Monfort with three counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of arson, asserting that the man rigged several bombs at a City of Seattle garage hoping to kill officers and firefighters. Like Monfort’s other intended victims, Brenton and partner Officer Britt Sweeney were “targeted solely because...

A previously unknown militant group claims to be behind a series of arson attacks on banks in Frankfurt over the past two weeks. Police are still hunting for leads to the elusive group, while commentators are drawing links with Germany's notorious terrorist group the Red Army Faction. Until two weeks ago no one had heard of the Bewegung Morgenlicht. But now, they have thrust themselves onto the police's radar with a number of attacks on banks in Frankfurt. Two Saturdays ago, militants threw a petrol-soaked cloth into a Dresdner Bank foyer, setting fire to a cash machine. Just 24 hours...

Updated: The law firm Sidley Austin has rescinded an employment offer to a Harvard law graduate who has turned himself in to police for allegedly setting fire to a Sept. 11 memorial in Manhattan. The suspect, 26-year-old Brian Schroeder, is a 2009 graduate of Harvard Law School, the Harvard Law Record reports. He was a 2008 summer associate at Sidley Austin; a permanent offer of employment has been rescinded, Sidley Austin partner Bill Conlon told the ABA Journal. Schroeder turned himself in for the blaze at the Memorial Park chapel housing the remains of unidentified Sept. 11 victims on Saturday...

A recent Harvard Law School graduate has been accused of setting fire to a New York City chapel that houses the remains of unidentified victims of the 9/11 attacks, leading to public outrage from the victims’ families. Classmates of Schroeder at the Law School contacted by The Crimson either did not return repeated requests for comment or declined to comment. But according to media reports the act surprised those who know Schroeder, who served as co-president of Lambda, the school’s LGBT student organization, during his time as a student.

A Harvard law grad surrendered to cops yesterday after allegedly setting fire to an East Side chapel that houses remains of 9/11 victims as part of a drunken dare, sources said. Brian Schroeder, 26, originally from Texas, walked into the 13th Precinct station house at about 7 p.m. in connection with the blaze at Memorial Park, on East 30th Street. Charges were pending, police said. None of the remains, which are destined for a memorial at the World Trade Center, were damaged but "mementos and candles left by family members in honor of 9/11 victims were destroyed or possibly stolen,"...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A judge on Wednesday dismissed murder charges against two men awaiting retrial in the 1991 slayings of four teens at an Austin yogurt shop, after prosecutors admitted they weren't ready to take the case to a jury. Robert Springsteen was sent to death row in 2001 after he was convicted in capital murder slaying of one of the girls. Michael Scott had been convicted in her death previously and sentenced to life in prison. Both convictions were overturned when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said Springsteen and Scott were unfairly denied the chance to cross-examine...

Retired accountant James McDermith's mad dash to retrieve a camper and pack it with belongings as a wildfire chewed closer to his home six years ago may have cost him his life. But it wasn't the flames or smoke that got him. The 70-year-old church deacon was one of five men to have a heart attack during the 2003 blaze that surged through the San Bernardino Mountain foothills. With evidence that stress from the wildfire led to the deaths, prosecutors took the unusual step this week of charging a suspected arsonist with five counts of first-degree murder that could signal...

"AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday defended his removal of three commissioners looking into whether the state used bad science to execute an innocent man, suggesting too much was being made of his move. On Wednesday, Perry decided to replace three members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, including its chairman, just two days before it conducted a hearing to examine the case of Cameron Todd Willingham. The new chairman canceled the meeting."

LACONIA – Police said a Laconia woman obsessed with a city police officer attempted to set fire to his house while his family was sleeping. Bail was set at $100,000 cash yesterday for Patricia Halsey-Carter, 41, of 33 Avery St., who works at the local Dunkin' Donuts. She is charged with four counts of arson, violation and contempt of a protective order and criminal mischief.

SICK of vandalism and violence in his home town, John Genetzakis waged a one-man war to wipe out the thugs. Now the business owner has paid the price, losing his house and everything in it in a frightening arson attack. Mr Genetzakis, 37, who lives in the Hunter Valley town of Cessnock, said yesterday he had no doubt the blaze was started by youths seeking retribution. For more than two years he has called for a police crackdown on youth gangs who smash shop windows, wreck public spaces with graffiti and harass residents in Cessnock's business centre. Mr Genetzakis' cinema...

ORANGEVALE, Calif. -- A 15-year-old girl who allegedly worships Satan was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of lighting a fire at her Orangevale church. The blaze occurred at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at the corner of Hazel and Cherry avenues. Christian Pebbles of Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said the teen made it clear why she started the blaze, which damaged church pews. "She hates the church and she worships the devil," Pebbles said. "That's the reason why." Pebbles said the teen was taken into custody on suspicion of felony arson. "Well, you know, kids sometimes don't always...

As the fire and homicide investigation continues, officials say several firefighters were exposed to cyanide gas in two separate incidents as they were mopping up hot spots near the small city of Acton on the northern edge of the massive blaze. The poisonous cyanide fumes are suspected in acute breathing problems suffered by Los Angeles firefighters battling the Station Fire in the Aliso Canyon. One firefighters suffered life-threatening respiratory arrest and remains in hospital after she was knocked out by noxious fumes on Sept. 1 near Acton. Two days later, six firefighters suffered severe breathing difficulties in another part of...

LAKE VIEW TERRACE, Calif. (KABC) -- It was an emotional tribute for the 1,200 to 1,500 firefighters that gathered early Friday morning to say their personal goodbyes to the two firefighters killed in the Station Fire. Capt. Ted Hall and firefighters Arnie Quinones both died Sunday afternoon when their vehicle went over the side of a mountain. ..."It was just important to bring closure," said Paul Lowenthal from the Santa Rosa Fire Department. "It's not only a family within your own station. It's a family across the state, across the country, so we all look out for one another, and...

A wildfire in the foothills north of Los Angeles that has claimed the lives of two firefighters, ravaged more than 250 square miles and destroyed more than 60 homes was caused by arson, the federal Forest Service said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has begun a homicide inquiry looking for the person or people responsible for the wildfire, which continues to burn. The blaze, known as the Station Fire, has burned for over a week in the Angeles National Forest outside Los Angeles. After a forensic investigation, officials with the U.S. Forest Service determined on Thursday that the fire...

LOS ANGELES, Sept 3 (Reuters) - A huge wildfire burning in the mountains above Los Angeles, the largest ever in the county, was started by arson and will be investigated as a homicide, authorities said on Thursday. The arson declaration was made after investigators found evidence of arson at the point of origin for the so-called Station Fire, which has blackened an area the size of Chicago, started. "Arson investigators from the U.S. Forest Service (and other agencies) ... have concluded that the Station Fire was the result of an arson," Forest Service Commander Rita Wears told reporters at a...

The monster Station Fire burning north of Los Angeles was human-caused, a U.S. Forest Service official said Wednesday. Meanwhile, fire crews prepared for potential setbacks because of returning drier conditions, MSNBC.com reported. Investigators don't know specifically how the Station Fire was started but have enough information to determine it was caused by a person, the Forest Service's deputy incident commander Carlton Joseph said during a news conference. Investigators were determining whether the fire was accidental or arson and identified the point of origin as mile marker 29 on Angeles Crest Highway. Firefighters caught a weather break Tuesday when moister, cooler...

In a withering critique, a nationally known fire scientist has told a state commission on forensics that Texas fire investigators had no basis to rule a deadly house fire was an arson -- a finding that led to the murder conviction and execution of Cameron Todd Willingham.

County dispatcher wanted tragedy of fire to help reunite pair, Burnet police say.

In Texas, they're conducting the first state-sponsored review of a capital punishment case. Specifically, they're looking into the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was convicted and executed for setting a house fire that killed his three children. An expert on fire science says there was "no basis" to rule the fire an arson, the Chicago Tribune reports. The state fire marshal on the case, Beyler concluded in his report, had "limited understanding" of fire science. The fire marshal "seems to be wholly without any realistic understanding of fires and how fire injuries are created," he wrote. The marshal's findings,...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Wildfire investigators in California are looking for marijuana growers tied to a Mexican drug cartel whom they suspect ignited a blaze that has charred more than 87,000 acres of a national forest. The La Brea Fire, which erupted August 8 in the Los Padres National Forest in the remote Santa Barbara County mountains northwest of Los Angeles, is believed to be the first major wildfire in the state caused by drug traffickers, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Jim Turner said on Monday. A joint statement issued Saturday night by the Santa Barbara County sheriff's office and the...

Ex-wife 'admits starting' Kuwait wedding party blaze that killed 43 Many of those who died were killed in the stampede for the exit of the tent, in which 180 women and children were celebrating James Hider, Middle East Correspondent A fire in a wedding party tent that killed 43 women and children in Kuwait was started deliberately by the ex-wife of the bridegroom, a Kuwaiti newspaper said today. Al-Qabbas said that the 23-year-old former wife had admitted pouring petrol on the cotton tent and setting it on fire, furious at what she called her “bad treatment” by her former partner...

BAGNOLET, France – Restive youths in a Paris suburb torched a tourist bus and nearly a half-dozen cars and hurled objects at police early Tuesday, a night after fullblown unrest prompted by the death of a teen fleeing police. The local prefecture, the administrative center for the region, said the situation was under control despite the scattered torchings. An Associated Press Television News crew saw at least five torched cars and a burned-out tourist bus near a housing project. Groups of youths set street fires, sometimes fueling them with garbage cans or a mattress in one case and hurled stones...

The holiday home of Novartis chairman and CEO Daniel Vasella has been badly damaged by fire, a week after his mother's grave was desecrated by animal rights militants. Although police do not know who or what caused the fire early on Monday morning in the Tyrol, there is speculation that it is the work of the same group that took the urn of Vasella's mother on July 27. Her gravestone was defiled with a message saying the Basel pharmaceutical company must sever its ties with Britain's Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), the largest contract animal-testing company in Europe. The recent attacks...

BERN, Switzerland – Drug maker Novartis AG said Tuesday that animal rights activists have stolen the ashes of its CEO's mother and set fire to his Austrian hunting lodge. Swiss authorities, however, said they didn't know who was behind the attacks. In the latest incident, CEO Daniel Vasella's Tyrollean lodge in Bach, Austria, was badly burned early Monday morning. "It was arson with a professional fire accelerator," Novartis spokeswoman Isabel Guerra said in Basel.

Note: The following text is a quote: Saturday, August 1, 2009 Eight Pakistani Christians burned to death as Muslims torched 50 houses -- Local Christians have refused to bury dead until Punjab Chief Minister visits them -- Pakistan Provincial Law Minister blames violence and killings on Police apathy By Dan Wooding and Sheraz Khurram Khan Special to ASSIST News Service GOJRA, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- In a fresh incident of violence by hardline Muslims against Pakistani Christians at least eight Christians have been burned alive and many others injured as a Muslim mob estimated to be over 1500 in number set...

Firefighters in Spain, France, Greece and Italy are continuing to battle forest fires as speculation grows many were sparked deliberately. Skip related content Related photos / videos Arson fears over European wildfires Enlarge photo More photos: Weather Thousands of acres of land have been destroyed across southern Europe. In Spain, where six firefighters have been killed, a new blaze has broken out in Las Hurdes, Extremadura. In the country's Aragon region, water planes have brought most of the fires under control. More than 15 people have reportedly been arrested by Spanish authorities and there are also suspicions surrounding the blaze...

Three men have been jailed for an arson attack at the home of a publisher days before his novel about the Prophet Mohammed was due to be published. Martin Rynja's home in Lonsdale Square, Islington, north London, was targeted on 27 September last year. Abbas Taj, 30, Ali Beheshti, 41, and Abrar Mirza, 23, from east London, were each jailed for four-and-a-half years. They were convicted of conspiracy to commit arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered. The attack took place as the Jewel of Medina, a novel about the Prophet's child bride A'isha, was to be published...