Alabama Church arsonists still at large

[Charlie Brown]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11201623/

On a foggy Thursday night/Friday morning—February 2/3 -- traveling this same kind of road, arsonists set fire to five small, rural Baptist churches. The churches were torched in rapid succession, “as fast as they could drive from one location to the next,” according to a deputy sheriff involved in the arson investigation. An arson task force composed of over 100 federal, state, and local law enforcement agents is now sifting through the remains of the fires, and through the mounds of information and evidence quickly being developed in this case, all in an attempt to identify the fire setter(s).

The pastor thought the fire setter(s) may have entered through a side door of the church, but it’s still early in the investigation. It appears that all of the church fires were set within a 25-mile area. This same pastor suggested that the arsonist(s) may have moved in a kind of circular manner, traveling quickly from one fire to the next. Some of the churches were located in very rural locations, along dirt roads without any sign to indicate the location of the church. Therefore someone with a good working knowledge of the local area and the rural roads may have played a key role in these arsons.

The bottom line is that no matter who committed these arsons, and no matter their twisted motive for doing so, these are crimes that reflect on our country. It makes no difference whether the attack was against a mosque, a synagogue or a centuries old church, and no matter whether the congregations were black or white, these arsons are a crime against all citizens. They must be solved. A reward of $10,000 has already been offered to anyone who provides information that helps identify the fire setters. Let’s hope that a combination of good investigative techniques, and a few loose lips, will quickly lead to the solution of these crimes of hate, revenge, bigotry, or just plain stupidity.