LOUISIANA
Holden Matthews, 22, plead guilty Monday in federal court to setting fire to three Baptist churches because of the “religous character of the buildings,” according to federal authorities.
Matthews pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act — one count for each church — as well as one count of using fire to commit a federal felony.
The fires, which Matthews set over a 10-day period in March and April of 2019, completely destroyed each of the church buildings.
Matthews will be sentenced on May 22. He is facing up to 70 years in prison.
(April 2019 News Story)
At the plea hearing, Matthews admitted that, between March 26 and April 4, 2019, he intentionally set fire to three Baptist churches with predominantly African-American congregations in the Opelousas, Louisiana area. First, on March 26, 2019, Matthews set fire to St. Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre, Louisiana.
Next, on April 2, 2019, Matthews set fire to the Greater Union Baptist Church, in Opelousas, Louisiana. Then, on April 4, 2019, Matthews set fire to the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Opelousas, Louisiana.
The fires Matthews set destroyed each of the church buildings. Matthews admitted to setting the fires because of the religious character of these buildings, in an effort to raise his profile as a “Black Metal” musician by copying similar crimes committed in Norway in the 1990s.
Matthews further admitted that, after setting the third fire, he posted photographs and videos on Facebook that showed the first two churches burning, according to officials.
Matthews admitted that he had taken these photographs and videos in real-time on his cell phone, as he watched those churches burn, and that he had posted them to Facebook in an effort to promote himself in the Black Metal community.
“Holden Matthews made a conscious decision to randomly target and destroy churches within his own community. His atrocious actions inflicted severe pain and grief upon these congregations, as well as all of St. Landry Parish,” said Special Agent in Charge Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office.