Investigators Probe Fires At 6 Black Churches In 5 Southern States

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

http://www.npr.org/2015/06/29/418490411/arsonists-hit-6-black-churches-in-5-southern-states

Investigators continue their examination of a fire at the Glover Grove Baptist Church of Warrenville, S.C.

Fires damaged Glover Grove and some other black churches in the days following nine shooting deaths at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, raising concerns that the incidents were hate-inspired arsons.

Now, in the case of Glover Grove, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has released the following statement, saying it still doesn't know how the blaze started.

Glover Grove Baptist Church is nestled in a woody, quiet part of Warrenville, S.C., surrounded by trailer homes and old cars. The congregation is small, about 35 people, according to local reports. You have to look hard online just to find a phone number or an address.

Hours before President Obama spoke to a packed house in Charleston last Friday in another black church, delivering the eulogy for state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, Glover Grove Baptist Church burned to the ground.

It is one of at least six black church fires in the South, all of which have taken place in the week-and-a-half since nine people were killed in Emanuel AME Church.

Fires in Charlotte, N.C., and Knoxville, Tenn., are both being investigated as arson. Authorities in Macon, Ga., are investigating another there as "suspicious." A fire at a Tallahassee, Fla., church was likely caused by electrical problems, authorities have said. Another in Gibson County, Tenn., may have been caused by lightning. One burning in Charlotte is being investigated to determine if it could have been a hate crime.