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By Associated press
OPELOUSAS, LA – The white man suspected of setting fire to three African American churches in Louisiana is now facing hate crime charges in arson.
Holden Matthews, the son of a 21-year-old sheriff's deputy, pleaded not guilty by videoconference from St. Landry parish jail on Monday. The judge set the date of the trial in September.
Matthews, who had no criminal record, was arrested Wednesday for three counts of arson in a religious building. Prosecutors filed documents Monday adding three more indictments, accusing Matthews of violating Louisiana's hate crime law, confirming that they thought the fires were racially motivated , a link that the authorities had previously refrained from establishing.
Browning said federal officials are also considering filing new charges of hate crime and arson against Matthews.
In refusing bail, District Judge James Doherty is on the side of law enforcement officials who have expressed concern that Matthews is trying to flee. the area or cause other fires.
"We felt it posed an immediate risk to public safety," said Louisiana Fire Marshal Butch Browning. "In my mind, I felt that another fire was imminent."
In his testimony in court, Browning presented a slew of pieces of evidence, including new details of the investigation, according to which he had linked the Matthews case to the fire of the three black churches for 10 days.
The Fire Marshal described cell phone records indicating that Matthews was at the scene of the fire. Images on the phone showed that the three churches were burning before the forces of order arrived and that Matthews "claims" responsibility for the fires.
Matthews, chained and dressed in an orange jumpsuit, never spoke to the court at the hearing, leaving his attorney solicitor to plead not guilty in his stead. His parents attended their son's video conference call from the courtroom, his father wringing his hands several times and at one point leaving the room in tears.
The fires, all started with gasoline, took place in and around Opelousas, about 100 kilometers west of Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana.
A crowdfunding campaign for the three empty churches was launched Tuesday after social media urged the public not to forget the tragic fate of small houses of worship while the eyes of the world were focused on Notre cathedral -Lady ravaged by fire.
"As we carry Paris into our hearts today, let's also send some love to our neighbors in Louisiana," he said.weet of Hillary Clinton read.
Independent journalist Yashar Ali, who has 394,000 subscribers, has adopted a similar tone, saying that the restoration of Notre Dame "will be well funded" and urging that churches in Louisiana be supported.
"It's a blessing, a blessing," said Reverend Freddie Jack, president of the Seventh-day Missionary Baptist Association, in a phone interview Tuesday night. The three churches are members of the association.
The campaign reached $ 500,000 Tuesday night, with contributions ranging from $ 5 to thousands of dollars.
"Everything works for the greater good," said Jack, questioned about the rapprochement with the fire of Notre Dame.
The money raised will be distributed equitably among the three hundred-year-old churches: the St. Mary Baptist Church, which burned on March 26 in Port Barre, a town close to Opelousas; and Great Union Baptist Church and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Opelousas.
Matthews was arrested just over two weeks after the first fire at the St. Mary Baptist Church on March 26 in Port Barre, a town just outside Opelousas. A few days later, the Greater Union Baptist Church and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church of Opelousas were set on fire. Everyone was over 100 years old.
The churches were empty at the time and no one was injured. But at one location, two occupants of a neighboring house had to evacuate when the front of the house began to catch fire in the church.
The fires put the community on the edge. Governor John Bel Edwards said the fires in the church recalled "a very dark past of intimidation and fear".
Matthews' lawyer, Quincy Cawthorne, questioned some of the evidence cited by Browning and said Matthews did not have the financial means to be a flight risk. He also opposed suggestions that the house located near one of the churches was intentionally burned, putting the lives of residents at risk.
A preliminary hearing has been set for July 17 and the jury selection is scheduled to begin on September 10.
Prosecutors, through Browning 's testimony, gave a more detailed overview of the evidence used by law enforcement agencies to substantiate their case against Matthews.
The Fire Marshal said on a receipt that Matthews had bought a gasoline can and a bundle of oil rags similar to those found at the site of the fires. A lighter and a bundle of oil rags, containing some of its contents, were found in Matthews' truck, Browning said. He added that Matthews had documented the fire on his cell phone, while video surveillance around the churches showed a truck similar to the one driven by Matthews. Matthews also had copies of fire reports on his phone, Browning said.
"He's actually superimposed on those reports, claiming responsibility for those fires," Browning said.
In addition, Browning said that a video on Matthews' phone was showing a conversation with a friend before the fires in which he was talking about burning churches and using gasoline to do it. The Fire Marshal said Matthews had posted an article on Facebook titled "Lords of Chaos" which, according to Browning, was a recent Norwegian movie involving church fires.
Matthews had shown interest in "black metal", an extreme subgenre of heavy metal, Browning said. The music was linked, in some cases, to fires in Christian churches in Norway in the 1990s.
"The evidence we have is unequivocal," Browning said. Later, he added: "He has clearly demonstrated the characteristics of a pathological firefighter."
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