9 Ala. Church Fires Raise More Questions

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley walks amid the ruins of Ashby Baptist Church while touring the area with church and law enforcement officials Saturday Feb 4, 2006 in Brierfield, Ala. Riley toured all five churches that were hit by suspected arsonists in Bibb County and offered a $10,000 reward in finding who is responsible for the fires. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

Some more information on these church fires in Alabama. This is from Yahoo News:

Morning Star Baptist and three other rural Alabama churches were damaged or destroyed by fires Tuesday, bringing the number of suspicious church fires in the state to nine in less than a week. Authorities said they had no clear suspects but were inspecting tire tracks and footprints and searching for a dark-colored sport-utility vehicle.

"Obviously somebody or somebodies are interested in burning down churches. Whether it's hate against a race or religion in general, we don't know," said Ragan Ingram, a spokesman for the state insurance agency that oversees fire investigations.

Ingram said the first rash of fires early Friday — at four predominantly white churches and one predominantly black church — are believed to be linked.

Firefighters spray water on the remains of Ashby Baptist Church Friday Feb. 3, 2006, near Brierfield, Ala. The church was one of five hit by a string of suspected arsons, in Bibb County, Ala., overnight. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

The FBI was already looking into whether those fires were civil rights violations under laws covering attacks on religious property, and the state and federal government had offered $10,000 in rewards for information when the new fires were reported.

The four fires Tuesday — all at predominantly black churches — could be a continuation of that crime spree, or they could be copycat attacks, Ingram said Wednesday.

FBI acting assistant director Chip Burrus said investigators are working on the assumption that all nine fires are connected.

All of the churches are Baptist, the dominant faith in the area, and all were off rural roads not far from highways. The fires were in two clusters: the first five all in Bibb County, south of Birmingham, and the latest four in western Alabama 10 to 20 miles apart.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms mark tire tracks in Sumpter County on a road leaving the Galilee Baptist Church, Tuesday Feb. 7 2006, in Panola, Ala., after the church was destroyed by fire. The church is located off a dirt road, allowing investigators to get tire tracks from the mud. Fires damaged or destroyed four Baptist churches across the Alabama countryside Tuesday, less than a week after a string of five blazes that were ruled arson. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Three of the fires Tuesday appeared to have started near the churches' altars, according to church members and authorities, and at least two were found to be arson.

Rich Marianos, a spokesman for the federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency, said more than 50 agents are now assigned to the investigation and it is the No. 1 priority nationally.

In Boligee, Archibald said he was told by a resident that a sport-utility vehicle had been seen speeding through an intersection near the church.

Members of the Old Union Baptist Church in Brierfield, damaged by fire early Friday, had earlier told The Associated Press they saw a dark SUV near their church as they arrived to douse the flames.

Looks like the FBI is developing a profile on this arsonist or arsonists. All the churches were baptist churches, located on rural roads with access towards highways (for quick exits). If the arsonists could get inside the churches, they may start their fires in the pulpits. And perhaps such arsonists use a dark-colored SUV as their vehicle. And all the fires are located in either Bibb County, south of Birmingham, or in parts of western Alabama So the arsonists either lives in Bibb County, Birmingham, or western Alabama--since they know the highway system there. There is a good chance that if the FBI have plaster molds taken of the tire tracks, they certainly will know what make and model those tires are, and possibly know what type of SUV would have those tires.

There is still a question of whether these arsons are the result of racial hatred or religious hatred. On that issue, I can't say. If the arsonists are driving an SUV to these church fires, then these arsonists could be working class, or middle-class individuals. They may live, or have access to, a house or a farm in order to plan their strategies, or accumulate the flammable material needed to start these fires. Apartments, or condos are located among urban areas, where their comings, goings, and possibly the storage of flammable materials could be seen by witnesses. So they would need someplace private. I'm not sure if they belong to any religious or racial hate groups, or even if they are religious fundamentalists. That question goes back to whether the arsonists are torching the churches based on religious hatred, or racial hatred--it could be that it is a combination of both. I'd say that these individuals were born and raised in the South--perhaps in western Alabama--where they were exposed to either the fundamentalist or evangelical religious dogma, as well as the racial hatred against blacks. These arsonists are certainly white males, their ages ranging from early 30s to mid or late 40s. Their education may be of high school, or some college--perhaps an associates or trade school degree. I don't believe they would have anything higher than an associates degree. They would probably be single males--not currently married with children, since married men with children would be home taking care of their families. It may be difficult for them to explain to their spouses why they are going out all night "with the boys" to torch churches.

Anyways, that is my brainstorming on this story.