3 Charged With Alabama Church Fires

[Laurent]

I'm sure Chris Matthews is devastated his retarded theory didn't pan out.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) -- Three Birmingham college students were arrested and charged Wednesday in connection with a string of Alabama church fires that is described in court papers as a joke that "got out of hand," authorities said.

The students -- Ben Moseley and Russell DeBusk, both 19, and Matthew Lee Cloyd, 20 -- are suspected in nine of the 10 fires last month.

The suspects were held on federal charges of conspiracy and setting fire to Ashby Baptist Church in Bibb County. In court filings, all three admitted being involved in the arson fires. No one was injured in any of the blazes.

U.S. Attorney Alice Martin said further charges are possible and that, if convicted, the students would face minimum sentences of five years for each count.

Authorities will seek indictments from a federal grand jury "in due course," she said.

"It's a good day when we can tell the people of Alabama that we believe this is an isolated instance," Alabama Gov. Bob Riley said.

All nine fires occurred in rural counties southwest of Birmingham -- five in Bibb County on February 3, and four in Greene, Sumter and Pickens counties on February 7. Five of the churches had predominantly black congregations, and four had predominantly white members. (See map)

No one has been arrested in connection with a 10th fire, set February 11 at a mostly white Lamar County church.

"We don't think that there is any type of conspiracy against organized religion or against the Baptists or against religious beliefs in particular," Riley said. "I think that, today, Alabama and all of the faith-based community in this state can rest a little easier."

Moseley and DeBusk are both sophomores at Birmingham-Southern College, which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. They made initial appearances Wednesday morning in a federal court in Birmingham.

All three face a bond hearing Friday in a federal court in Birmingham.

DeBusk's lawyer, Donald Colee, had no immediate comment. Tommy Spina, the attorney for Cloyd, said "Where we are headed with this case, I do not know."

Efforts to reach lawyers for Moseley were unsuccessful.

'Diversion did not work'
Birmingham-Southern President David Pollick said the students have been suspended and barred from campus since their arrest. He pledged that Birmingham-Southern will help rebuild the churches "both financially and in terms of our own labor."

"The students, faculty and staff of our college are at once shocked and outraged, and we share the sorrow of our neighbors whose churches represented the heart and souls of their communities," he said.

Cloyd, who attends the University of Alabama at Birmingham, was taken into custody later in the day, federal law enforcement sources said.

UAB spokesman Gary Mans said Cloyd was a junior who transferred to the university in fall 2005 and lived off-campus. He would not disclose Cloyd's field of study or any disciplinary action, citing federal privacy laws.

According to court papers released Wednesday, Cloyd told a witness that he and Moseley "had done something stupid."

"Cloyd stated to the witness that Moseley did it as a joke and it got out of hand," an affidavit in the case states. "Cloyd stated that they set a church on fire."

Moseley and DeBusk admitted involvement in the fires, as well, the affidavit states. DeBusk said he was at the scene of the fires in Bibb County, where the three had been deer hunting the first weekend of February, and kicked in the door of two churches that later were set ablaze.

Moseley told investigators that he and Cloyd set the other four fires "as a diversion to throw investigators off," the affidavit states. When questioned by investigators, "Moseley said the diversion obviously did not work."

None of the three has a previous criminal record, said Richard Montgomery, Alabama's state fire marshal.

DeBusk is a theater major at Birmingham-Southern, while Moseley's major was undeclared, college officials said. Mark Doll, a Birmingham-Southern sophomore who said he plays in a band with Moseley, told CNN he never heard Moseley speak of religion.

"There was nothing that we can see that would lead us to think he would do something like this," he said.

Pollick said he met with Birmingham-Southern students Wednesday afternoon and said they are determined to repair a reputation they said was "tarnished" by their classmates' arrests.

He said students, faculty and staff now feel connected to the communities "in a way that we didn't, in all honesty, yesterday."

"The one thing we are certain of is that this is a place where we belong," he said. "This is a place where we should extend our muscles and our resources and help seek out more resources."

Tire treads tip off investigators
Officials said the arrests were the result of good police work by a task force of about 250 state, federal and local law enforcement officers.

Investigators had said they were looking for a dark-colored sport-utility vehicle that had been seen at the burned churches. According to the affidavit, tread marks left at the scene of four fires matched a rarely purchased set of all-terrain tires.

Investigators tracked a set of those tires from a tire shop in the Birmingham suburb of Pelham to a green Toyota 4Runner registered to Cloyd's mother. She told agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that her son was the vehicle's primary driver, the affidavit states.

That was one of about 1,000 leads involving 500 vehicles and about 1,300 people that investigators chased down over the past month, ATF spokesman Jim Cavanaugh said.

"We just pushed and pushed and pushed until we could make the break," Cavanaugh said.

[UndercoverGator]

Those nutty ass Methodists strike again (no offense please to any Methodists on the board, I meant it in all sarcasm)

[Grimmlok]

darn.. more weren't torched..

[SVZ]

somebody think of the artwork!!

[Grimmlok]

Yes! The artwork!

[MrsDark]

I'm not even religious at all but that's just wrong. And even if I don't like what they stand for, some churches really are beautiful. Why not burn all the bibles in a big pile on the church driveway instead? Or toilet paper the trees?

[Sojiita]

Whatever time they are given to spend in jail..should not be spent in jail..it should be spent rebuilding those churches or doing repairs on others..for the entire length of their sentences.

[sweetrebel]

I know there are many on this board who do not believe in organized religion or religion period, but for those in the world who do, the church is a special place to them. Almost an extension of their home.
I think it is vulgar that anyone thinks it is funny or 'just' that these churches were burned. I never express much religious opinion on this board, but a few of the comments were pretty cruel IMO.
There is nothing funny about destruction of property for the sake of a fucking JOKE, let alone a church. I'm sure that I may piss some of you off or get some smart ass comment in return, but honestly, I don't really care. I NEVER have been ugly to anyone on this board, but this really made me angry.
These boys should be punished for their 'sense of humor' and should spend a long time rebuilding these churches so that these parishoners can start to put this behind them.

Gator, I thought it was a very stand up thing for the Methodist church insist that they would help rebuild....kinda like they were taking responsibility for some of their followers actions.....

[UndercoverGator]

Gator, I thought it was a very stand up thing for the Methodist church insist that they would help rebuild....kinda like they were taking responsibility for some of their followers actions.....

Sweetrebel, I thought so too but I was just goofing on the reputation the Methodists have for being, well, methodical and not the most exciting or progressive Xian faction. My husband was raised Methodists and my own great grandfather was a Methodist circuit rider in the bayous of South Louisiana. The local Methodists here keep trying to poach me to run their contemporary worship team from my own home church.

I think it's awful any time a church or synagog or mosque is destroyed. Faith in something beyond ourselves, something better, more noble and inwardly fulfilling that helps us face the difficulties of life. (Grimm, you're the exception. Don't lecture me because I know what you think of this)

I NEVER have been ugly to anyone on this board

Yeah, well you're obviously showing more Xian love than I have here. Good for you. Actually I do agree with you that there is way too much bashing of Christians here and yeah, some of it makes me uncomfortable but fighting with people here isn't the solution either.

[sweetrebel]

^^I know, Gator, and I really was hesitant to even post, cause I don't want to start shit, but it just really bothered me how callous certain posters (and I do so love our dear Grimm, but.....)were being about this.
And I wasn't trying to be snarky to you-I know you said that pretty much toungue in cheek-just thought it was cool of them to stand up and say that. I'm sure there are a lot of religions and churches of all denominations who will help rebuild these churches.

[Grimmlok]

If it was a United church, i might feel bad.. but baptists... i dunno...

Although maybe it was one of those fun, swingin black churches.. ok, i feel a little twinge.. happy? lol

[sweetrebel]

Originally Posted by Grimmlok

If it was a United church, i might feel bad.. but baptists... i dunno...

Although maybe it was one of those fun, swingin black churches.. ok, i feel a little twinge.. happy? lol

A little one of the churchs burned was a black Baptist church
I know you have very strong feelings/beliefs about religion, but there was no 'point' here-no statement being made. The article only said it started as a joke-not one of the kids had a religiously motivated reason-even though I can't say that I would agree or understand if they did.
Thank you for twinging I know it took a lot for you to do that~~

[Grimmlok]

Well I have no problems with the United church.. its as close as a church based on the teachings of Jesus there is, the 'love everyone, no matter what' church.

Baptists... they make me cringe...i find them evil in a lot of ways..

[Lobelia]

Vandalism sparks me to a rage, under any circumstance. I saw a video on tv that a bunch of stupid boys made of themselves, trashing homes that were being constructed. Those homes didn't even belong to anyone yet, but it PISSED ME OFF. Somebody had to pay for it, and we all pay the price when insurance rates go up. People who do their jobs had to walk in the next morning & see their work ruined.

I get annoyed at people who write on bathroom stalls. Idiots here where I live occasionally spray paint buildings in our historic downtown. We've had to close park areas at night due to vandalism. It's like people can't stand for other people to have nice things. Such as a beautiful building, a home, a park, or a church.

I wish somebody that engages in vandalism can explain to me what the fuck it's supposed to accomplish.

ETA: God help any asshat I catch smashing a mailbox.

[SVZ]

i genuinely cared about the artwork a church burned down a many years ago here in toronto and they lost some really nice pieces