09 March 2006

Still waiting for the punchline...

Students say church arsons meant as ‘a joke’
3rd collegian also arrested in Alabama case
BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and news services
Updated: 1:35 p.m. ET March 8, 2006

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Two college students arrested Wednesday in a string of nine rural Alabama church arsons told authorities that the first fires were set as “a joke” and later blazes were intended as a diversion, federal agents said.

What kind of joke involves torching churches? I want to hear that one. "Hey, why did the chicken cross the road? To burn some Baptist churches!"
But it wasn't a hate crime. They burned five churches in the predominantly African American community, and five churches in the predominantly white community. They firmly believe in subjecting all people equally to gestures commonly associated with terror, intolerance, and so on. Those communities should be thanking those kids, for bringing something so humorous to their everyday lives.

*twitch*

A third college student was arrested later Wednesday in the serial arsons, according to WVTM-TV of Birmingham.

Benjamin Nathan Moseley and Russell Lee Debusk Jr., both students at Birmingham-Southern College, appeared in federal court Wednesday and were ordered held on church arson charges pending a hearing Friday.

Matthew Lee Cloyd, reportedly a student at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, was arrested midday, the WVTM reported.

An ATF affidavit said Moseley told agents on Wednesday that he, Cloyd and Debusk went to Bibb County in Cloyd’s Toyota sport utility vehicle on Feb. 2 and set fire to five churches. A witness quoted Cloyd as saying Moseley did it “as a joke and it got out of hand,” according to the affidavit.

Moseley also told agents the four church fires in west Alabama were set “as a diversion to throw investigators off,” an attempt that “obviously did not work,” the affidavit said.

Shocking. Committing additional crimes didn't keep authorities from gathering evidence to catch them. Witnesses actually saw them fleeing one of the scenes -- clearly they haven't watched enough CSI. Scientists always catch the bad guys.

My brain hurts. :\

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