{"id":52985,"date":"2023-04-26T18:12:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T01:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52985"},"modified":"2023-04-26T18:16:33","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T01:16:33","slug":"ohio-admits-to-setting-fire-to-a-church-because-of-the-religious-character-of-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52985","title":{"rendered":"Ohio Admits to Setting Fire to a House of Worship Because of the &#8220;Religious Character&#8221; of Church"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"node-title\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0Federal officials stated that an Ohio man plead guilty to violating the Church Arson Prevention Act for setting fire to a house of worship.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-pr-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Benjamin Ruckel, 25, of Pickerington, pleaded guilty to single-count information charging him with setting fire to the Mount Zion Church in Baltimore, Ohio, on Nov. 27, 2021, officials.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/quy6ISOQXII\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">According to court documents, Ruckel broke into the church and spread accelerant before setting the church ablaze, causing extensive damage. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">During the hearing, Ruckel admitted to intentionally setting the fire because of the religious character of the church.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/E-yA-W6MNOQ\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u201cThe defendant in this case is being held accountable for a devastating church arson that impacted an entire community of worshipers,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division. \u201cThe freedom to congregate in churches across our nation and the liberty to exercise one\u2019s religious beliefs must be shielded and protected. The Justice Department is committed to protecting our houses of worship and ensuring that all people are able to freely engage in religious practice free from violence and forceful interference.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u201cAll Americans have the right to practice their religion without fear,\u201d said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI\u2019s Criminal Investigative Division. \u201cThe FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to defend that right and hold those individuals accountable who would prevent the free exercise of that right.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The sentencing date has not yet been set. Ruckel faces up to 20 years in prison for violating the Church Arson Prevention Act.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The FBI Columbus Field Office investigated the case.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Deputy Criminal Chief Brian Martinez for the Southern District of Ohio and Trial Attorney Daniel E. Grunert of the Civil Rights Division\u2019s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0Federal officials stated that an Ohio man plead guilty to violating the Church Arson Prevention Act for setting fire to a house of worship. Benjamin Ruckel, 25, of Pickerington, pleaded guilty to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-department-of-justice"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ohio Admits to Setting Fire to a House of Worship Because of the &quot;Religious Character&quot; of Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0Federal officials stated that an Ohio man plead guilty to violating the Church Arson Prevention Act for setting fire to a house of worship. 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