THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230388
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
The Chesapeake-based Christian Coalition called Monday for an expanded federal investigation into a rash of arson attacks on black churches in the South and offered a $25,000 cash reward for information leading to arrests and convictions in the cases.
Since 1993, arsonists have attacked at least 23 black churches in seven southern states, including one church in Richmond. The cases have been investigated by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the FBI and state and local police, but many remain unsolved.
Ralph Reed, the coalition's executive director, called the attacks ``the greatest rash of bombings and terrorism against black churches since the civil rights movement of the 1960s'' and said the federal government needs to do more.
``We would like to see this become one of the top priorities for federal law enforcement. We'd like to see the Clinton administration make this as high on its list of concerns as we saw the Kennedy and Johnson administrations make the resolution of anti-black violence,'' he said. ``We don't think that has been going on.''
The coalition, founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, has 1.7 million members and supporters. Reed said about 5 percent of the group's members are black.
Reed said the government should immediately hold investigative congressional hearings and establish a task force to coordinate the activity of all federal agencies looking into the arson attacks. He said the task force would ensure that investigators share all of their leads.
Reed was particularly critical of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which has recently disciplined some of its agents - including two agents investigating the burnings of black churches - for their participation in ``Good Ol' Boys Roundups.'' The roundups, annual camp-outs for law enforcement officers, have sometimes included racist skits and the sale of racially offensive T-shirts.
Some of the agents have been disciplined, but Reed said that they should have been fired. ``It is our view that the ATF, because of the involvement of its agents in racist activities, should not take the lead on these cases,'' he said.
The $25,000 reward, he said, represents the coalition's effort to help move the investigation forward and he called on other groups to donate money to it. He said that he believed a sizeable reward might entice someone with information to step forward.
Reed said he had written to Attorney General Janet Reno asking her to make the investigation a top priority, but he had not talked to her about the coalition's plan to offer a reward.
In cases where arrests have been made, racial hatred has been a common factor among the suspects, but law enforcement agents have said that they do not believe that there is a regional conspiracy among the attackers.
Many pastors at the targeted churches disagree with that view. Some have criticized federal investigators for failing to seriously explore the possibility of a pattern linking the fires.
Reed said he, too, believes there may be links between the attacks. He noted that on one night in February, arsonists torched four churches in central Louisiana. All of the churches had predominantly black congregations. ``The ATF claims the cases are not related,'' he said. ``We find that hard to believe.''
KEYWORDS: FIRE ARSON by CNB