wfn.org | U.S. Official Reports Big Increase in Arrests For Church Burnings

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12-November-1996 
 
 
96445         U.S. Official Reports Big Increase in 
                    Arrests For Church Burnings 
 
                          by Tracy Early 
                  Ecumenical News International 
 
NEW YORK--Arson attacks on African-American churches in the United States 
have declined to "some" extent and arrests in cases under investigation 
have quadrupled since President Bill Clinton appointed a task force to 
concentrate efforts on the problem, according to the U.S. assistant 
attorney general for civil rights. 
 
     The burning of mainly black churches in the United States -- mostly in 
the Southern states -- has become one of the nation's most controversial 
issues this year. Hundreds of churches have been attacked in recent years. 
 
     In a telephone interview from Washington with Ecumenical News 
International (ENI) on Nov.1, the Clinton administration official, Deval 
Patrick, said the investigation of church burnings was being pursued by the 
federal government. "Upwards of 200" federal agents were working on the 
case full-time, with the assistance of 250 local and state officials, he 
said. 
 
     But Patrick credited the task force only partly for bringing down the 
rate of church burnings.  Efforts of local communities in coming together 
and addressing the issue had also contributed, he said. 
 
     When publicity about the church burnings, focused on allegations of 
white racists burning black churches in the South, reached a peak in June, 
President Clinton appointed a National Church Arson Task Force. He named 
Patrick, who is a black lawyer with extensive experience in civil rights 
work, and James Johnson, of the U.S. Treasury Department, as co-chairs. 
Since arson often springs from financial motives, the treasury department 
has a unit with expertise in this area. 
 
     An extra $6 million in federal funds was made available to help law 
enforcement personnel address the problem. Patrick said that money was 
still being used, largely to pay overtime for local officials assisting 
federal investigators. 
      
     Patrick said a law passed in June to allow "more aggressive" 
prosecution of church arson by racists has been helpful. In one case, he 
said, a black arsonist was found to have acted out of racial hostility in 
burning a white church and was prosecuted. 
 
     Overall, Patrick reported, federal authorities have investigated 280 
church fires, including about 130 at black churches, reported to have 
occurred since January 1995. He did not have figures on the number of cases 
solved, but said 112 people, two-thirds of them white, have been arrested. 
      
     Racist motivation was clear in about half the cases of black church 
arson and suspected in many others, Patrick said. But, he said, various 
other motives were found, including congregational disputes and other 
problems that in certain cases had led to black ministers burning their own 
churches. 
 
     Patrick reported his earlier contention, shared by the groups 
publicizing the burnings, that a "dramatic increase" in attacks on black 
churches began in January 1995. But, he said, that was based only on the 
number of incidents reported to federal authorities and might not include 
all the burnings that occurred either before or after that date. 
 
     The lack of any firm national statistics has led a number of critics 
to question whether there actually was a sudden upsurge of white racists 
burning black churches in January 1995 or whether perceptions of racism 
were merely the result of a highly publicized campaign that tried to use 
sensational allegations to raise funds and combat the conservative 
political trends represented by the Republican takeover of Congress that 
month. 
 
     Patrick offered no rebuttal to the many newspapers and magazines that 
criticized the campaign, but said only that he was disappointed by the 
articles because the church burnings were matters for "serious concern." He 
said the arson attacks revealed not only the presence of racism, but also 
the problem of troubled youths who were often found to be starting the 
fires. 
 
     Patrick also described the church burnings as an "epidemic of 
terrorism" in a speech last summer on July 11. He declined to repeat that 
phrase in his ENI interview, but said arson was a "terrorism experience" 
for the congregations affected. 
 
     The National Council of Churches (NCC), which has led the campaign to 
publicize the burnings and raise funds to help with rebuilding, reported on 
Oct. 17 that $4.7 million had been donated to its Burned Churches Fund. The 
total allocated so far for rebuilding is $2.3 million for 33 churches. The 
NCC is keeping 15 percent of undesignated gifts for administration and its 
program to "challenge the racism that fuels the acts of hatred."  
 
     An emergency conference on racism, held Oct. 24-26 in Columbia, S.C., 
to "dismantle white supremacy and the root causes of racial hatred and 
violence in America" was the first of a series the NCC plans to sponsor in 
various parts of the nation next year. 

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