This was the discussion on last night's “Kelly File.” The churches that have burned in the past two weeks have been both black and white churches, with no evidence of hate crimes, and only two confirmed cases of arson. The other instances? Electrical, accidental, and yes, lightning. A white church in Tallahassee burned last week after it was struck by lightning, though it was counted by some media outlets as a “suspicious fire at a black church.” The fire at Mt. Zion Church this week was reportedly due to lightning. Video via Right Sightings:
A search of news reports since June 20 indicates that concern about a trend of Southern arsons depends on focusing on certain incidents and on defaulting to the assumption that a fire is necessarily arson. Below are 14 incidents we identified, including those that have attracted the most attention. There have been two confirmed arsons at black churches.
Read the full piece here.
More:
Investigators were also looking into what caused the fires that destroyed black churches in Macon, Ga., and Warrenville, S.C., though officials said they have not found a cause or any evidence of criminal intent in those blazes.
The ATF has taken the lead on investigating the fires in Charlotte and Macon. A spokeswoman told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that there was no update on those cases.
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None of the fires have been declared hate crimes.
Church fires are relatively common in the U.S. According to the most recent data available from the National Fire Protection Assn., officials responded to 1,660 fires at religious and funeral properties in 2011, down from 3,500 in 1980.
Arson is a serious crime and should — and will — be prosecuted. But to assert that there is a “rash of arsons at black churches” is irresponsible and incorrect. We should wait for the results of the investigation before trumpeting accusations.
