SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (RNS) Three men arrested in an arson that destroyed a predominantly black church just hours after Barack Obama’s election were acting in anger over the election of a black man as president, according to a federal prosecutor.
The three men appeared in U.S. District Court on Friday (Jan. 16), charged with violation of civil rights by means of conspiracy to “injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate the parishioners of the Macedonia Church of God in Christ, a predominantly African-American congregational church,” according to the criminal complaint.
The men are being held without bail pending a hearing Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman, who heard initial arguments from attorneys for and against detention.
The three charged are Benjamin F. Haskell, 22; Michael F. Jacques, 24; and Thomas A. Gleason Jr., 21, all of Springfield. All are white, and no pleas were entered.
The blaze occurred at approximately 3 a.m. Nov. 5, destroying a new church under construction just hours after the Obama’s election.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin O’Regan described the crime as “reprehensible both in its idea and also in its effect.” All three men confessed to taking part in the arson following an investigation involving local, state and federal agencies, he said.
The crime carries a penalty of 10 years imprisonment, O’Regan said.
Gov. Deval L. Patrick, the state’s first black governor, said in a statement that he was “deeply troubled” by the findings of the investigation. “We have no room for hate in Massachusetts communities,” Patrick said. “I commend the state police, the ATF and other law enforcement agencies for bringing the perpetrators to justice. And I stand with this church community-as do all people of good faith-as they rebuild and heal.”
The $2.5 million church building had been under construction for about a year. The facility was about 75 percent complete at the time of the fire.
The men “decided to act out violently,” carrying gas cans in the night to set the fire both inside and outside the church, O’Regan said.
A cooperating FBI witness said he drove by the destroyed church site with Haskell and Jacques two days after the fire and alleged the two “laughed to each other,” and Haskell said, “We did it,” according to an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Ian D. Smythe.
Bishop Bryant Robinson Jr., the church’s pastor, attended the hearing Friday, joined by Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno. The arrests “help to elevate our spirit,” he said.
“We are comforted by and supported by God’s word,” Robinson said. “What was done to our destruction, will be turned to our construction.”
