Three black churches in Louisiana, civil rights center in Tennessee burned down
A 21-year-old white man faces hate crimes and arson charges for the church fires, and a white supremacist symbol was spray-painted at the Highlander Center.
Fires destroyed three predominantly black churches in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, as well as the main office of the Highlander Research and Education Center near Knoxville, Tennessee, in late March and early April.
A 21-year-old white man was arrested and charged with arson for the fires at the historic Baptist churches in Louisiana, “where the flame-gutted remains of the buildings evoked memories of civil rights era violence,” the Associated Press reported. A week later, charges of hate crimes were added, according to the New York Times.
Ashley Rodrigue, a spokeswoman for the state fire marshal, said that an unusually high number of investigators were tasked with determining the motivations for the fires. That included 40 federal staffers, including agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, 40 state agency workers, and 20 people from local agencies.
