Tweet
3 arrested in post-election arson at Springfield church
January 16, 2009 02:40 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – + By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff
SPRINGFIELD -- Federal agents arrested three men on civil rights charges today in connection with an arson fire that destroyed the construction site of a predominantly black church just hours after Barack Obama's landmark election victory, authorities said.
The men, Benjamin Haskell, Michael Jacques, and Thomas Gleason, are scheduled to appear in US District Court in Springfield before US Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman at 3:30 p.m., said Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan.
The three men were being charged with a violation of Section 241, a civil rights conspiracy statute, DiIorio-Sterling said. The charge makes it illegal for two or more individuals to agree to "injure, threaten, or intimidate'' anyone from exercising their civil rights. The offense is punishable by imprisonment up to a life term or the death penalty, depending on the circumstances of the crime and whether anyone was injured.
"I've been hopeful from day one that whoever perpetrated this hideous act of arson ... would be apprehended," said Bishop Bryant Robinson Jr., pastor of the Macedonia Church of God in Christ.
The blaze started at 3:10 a.m. and caused an estimated $2 million in damage. Investigators said at the time that the timing, just hours after Obama broke the highest racial barrier in politics, raised suspicions that it was a hate crime.
The fire touched off a raw fear that has lurked just below the surface in many black communities, that Obama's breakthrough success would trigger a backlash against blacks.
"If, in fact, it's a racially motivated crime, then that would be an additional tragedy to the loss because that's really not something you want to have in a community," said Bradford R. Martin Jr., a lawyer who represents the church and praised the work of investigators.
"As African-Americans, the Macedonia Church would have a heightened feeling and sensitivity to that," added Martin, who is white. "Until we hear more about what was actually going on with these individuals, it will be hard to say what their motivation was."
The state fire marshal, Stephen Coan, said authorities from a host of federal and state agencies investigated the crime, including the State Police, FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Hampden County District Attorney's Office. Sullivan's office led the investigation.
Bill Blatch, a retired State Police lieutenant and president of Black Men of Greater Springfield, was pleased that arrests had been made and was eager to learn more about the defendants.
"Being an ex-trooper, I had confidence that the investigators would do the best job they could to try to bring this thing to a quick end," he said. "And I think that faith has been rewarded."
He said he was heartened to see blacks and whites in Springfield pull together in the wake of the fire.
"As President-elect Obama states, we can do this thing, but we can only do this thing together," Blatch said
January 16, 2009 02:40 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – + By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff
SPRINGFIELD -- Federal agents arrested three men on civil rights charges today in connection with an arson fire that destroyed the construction site of a predominantly black church just hours after Barack Obama's landmark election victory, authorities said.
The men, Benjamin Haskell, Michael Jacques, and Thomas Gleason, are scheduled to appear in US District Court in Springfield before US Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman at 3:30 p.m., said Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan.
The three men were being charged with a violation of Section 241, a civil rights conspiracy statute, DiIorio-Sterling said. The charge makes it illegal for two or more individuals to agree to "injure, threaten, or intimidate'' anyone from exercising their civil rights. The offense is punishable by imprisonment up to a life term or the death penalty, depending on the circumstances of the crime and whether anyone was injured.
"I've been hopeful from day one that whoever perpetrated this hideous act of arson ... would be apprehended," said Bishop Bryant Robinson Jr., pastor of the Macedonia Church of God in Christ.
The blaze started at 3:10 a.m. and caused an estimated $2 million in damage. Investigators said at the time that the timing, just hours after Obama broke the highest racial barrier in politics, raised suspicions that it was a hate crime.
The fire touched off a raw fear that has lurked just below the surface in many black communities, that Obama's breakthrough success would trigger a backlash against blacks.
"If, in fact, it's a racially motivated crime, then that would be an additional tragedy to the loss because that's really not something you want to have in a community," said Bradford R. Martin Jr., a lawyer who represents the church and praised the work of investigators.
"As African-Americans, the Macedonia Church would have a heightened feeling and sensitivity to that," added Martin, who is white. "Until we hear more about what was actually going on with these individuals, it will be hard to say what their motivation was."
The state fire marshal, Stephen Coan, said authorities from a host of federal and state agencies investigated the crime, including the State Police, FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Hampden County District Attorney's Office. Sullivan's office led the investigation.
Bill Blatch, a retired State Police lieutenant and president of Black Men of Greater Springfield, was pleased that arrests had been made and was eager to learn more about the defendants.
"Being an ex-trooper, I had confidence that the investigators would do the best job they could to try to bring this thing to a quick end," he said. "And I think that faith has been rewarded."
He said he was heartened to see blacks and whites in Springfield pull together in the wake of the fire.
"As President-elect Obama states, we can do this thing, but we can only do this thing together," Blatch said