A Louisiana man accused of setting fire to three churches this past spring has been charged in an indictment with federal hate crimes, prosecutors said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
In an indictment that was returned this month but first unsealed on Wednesday, the Justice Department accused the man, Holden Matthews, of intentional damage to religious property \u2014 which the government classifies as a hate crime \u2014 and using fire to commit a felony.<\/p>\n
Mr. Matthews, who was arrested in April<\/a>, had already been charged with hate crimes by a local prosecutor, and the federal indictment came as little surprise. But federal prosecutors used the six-count indictment to suggest their theory of a motive for the fires: \u201cthe religious character\u201d of the properties where they were set. They did not elaborate.<\/p>\n \u201cAttacks against an individual or group because of their religious beliefs will not be tolerated in the Western District of Louisiana,\u201d David C. Joseph, the United States attorney for the area, said in a statement. \u201cChurches are vital places of worship and fellowship for our citizens and bind us together as a community. Our freedom to safely congregate in these churches and exercise our religious beliefs must be jealously guarded.\u201d<\/p>\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n A Louisiana man accused of setting fire to 3 churches this past spring has been charged with federal hate crimes https:\/\/t.co\/aIzULeHiRc<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The New York Times (@nytimes) June 13, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n