Posted on 02/08/2006 12:42:40 PM PST by presidio9
Federal agents said Wednesday they were looking for a dark sport utility vehicle in the investigation of nine rural Alabama church fires.
Two members of Old Union Baptist Church in Bibb County said they saw just such a vehicle driving slowly by the church at Brierfield when they arrived moments after the fire was set around 4:05 a.m. Friday.
"They were looking at the church when I spotted them," one of the witnesses, Alvin Lawley, told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday. "It was like they wanted to see what they had done."
Lawley said he got in his vehicle to briefly pursue the SUV and saw a white man in the passenger seat but couldn't see the driver.
Lawley and member Hilman Moses had hurried to the church after being alerted that other church fires along rural roads had erupted early Friday in the county just south of Birmingham. All five fires have been ruled arsons, and federal agents say they are working on the assumption that the four Tuesday in west Alabama are linked to those in Bibb County.
Witnesses and authorities reported a similar pattern at several of the burned churches, including Old Union — a door kicked in and the fire set near the pulpit.
Witnesses in west Alabama also reported seeing a dark SUV near at least one of the burned churches.
Austin Banks, a special agent of the federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency, told The Tuscaloosa News that two white men were seen near the church fires in west Alabama. But Eric Kehn, a spokesman for ATF, said Wednesday he had no information about anyone in the SUV. Birmingham FBI Special Agent Ray Zicarelli declined to comment in advance of a news conference Wednesday afternoon. Banks did not immediately return a call for comment.
The four churches that burned Tuesday in three adjoining counties on the Mississippi line all have black congregations. But four of the five churches set afire in Bibb County have white congregations. Agents said they do not have a motive in the arsons.
Lawley said the SUV slowed down outside the church "like they were checking something" and sped away when he got in his vehicle. Neither Lawley nor Moses saw they SUV's license plate, they said.
Lawley said he initially thought the SUV was a Nissan Pathfinder but now believes it was either a Pathfinder or a Toyota, either black or dark blue in color.
Dark SUV = hate crime.
Prosecute fully.
SUVs are pyros as well as air assault weapons now.
An SUV ate my dingo.
Evil SUVs! I just traded mine in, thank goodness.
(for a full-size crew cab pickup, with a V-8)
They're becoming more advanced.
As a dark-colored SUV (and thereby scary-looking), this is actually an assault SUV.
Now if anyone knows anything about church fires it is these guys.
We need to first find out the color of the SUV, could it be Red? Or if dark, could this be construed as a Black on Black crime. Needless to say, the SUV should be punished for the crime regrdless of it's color or what it was "thinking" prior to the crime.
I thnk they might be cylons.
The SUVs are out to get us, they are plotting.
Stephen King should right a story about a possessed SUV that crushes people and...
Oh. Never mind.
Gotta watch those SUV's every minute. Never know what they are going to do next.
Did the SUV use a Bic or a match to start the fires?
Ahem.
That's "SUV of color."
Feeling phonetic today.
"write" a story....
Apparently all Asians look alike to southern law-enforcement types.
Yeah--I bet it was really a WHITE SUV.
Always ready to hunt down the "dark" ones.
Dark SUV??? Is that like a black helicopter???
Fox Radio reported that these church burnings didn't seem to be race related because both black and white congregations were affected. It was so matter of fact that it took me aback. It was as if this would only be a big story if there was a race angle to it. Since there isn't its just another burned up church. I guess its ok to burn churches as long as you just don't burn only black churches. Can you imagine the outcry by the media if 10 muslim synagogues had been torched in less than 1 week? Another example of MSM not getting it.
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