Investigators are trying to determine if the arsons over the past two weeks are connected and motivated by hate.
New Life Missionary Baptist Church / Via Twitter: @STLFireDept
Fires set at six predominantly black churches in the St. Louis, Missouri, region are under investigation as authorities try to determine if they were targeted for religious or racial reasons.
The possibility that the fires — set since Oct. 8 — were motivated by hate is being considered as part of the investigation, St. Louis Fire Capt. Garon Mosby told the Associated Press.
"We believe that this fire-setting activity is meant to send a message," Mosby said in a statement sent to BuzzFeed News.
The fires have occurred near Ferguson, Missouri, where Michael Brown, an 18-year-old unarmed black man who was shot and killed by a white police officer. A grand jury subsequently decided not to charge Officer Darren Wilson, leading to mass protests.
Five of the six churches that were targets of the arson were predominately black and one is racially-mixed, the Associated Press reported. Each of the fires were started at or near the front or exterior doors of the places of worship, the St. Louis Fire Department said.
New Northside Missionary Baptist Church / Via Facebook: PrayingMember
The fires have ranged in damage from minimal to nearly destroying another, the AP reported. No one has been been injured, according to the fire department.
"We've got similarities in how the fires are set, which is what we're looking at," St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said.
Investigators from the St. Louis Regional Bomb and Arson Unit and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are helping police officials to determine if the arson fires are related.
ATF and CrimeStoppers are also offering a reward of $2,000 for information leading to the arrest of individuals responsible for the fires.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1Gflsd0
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