Report: Investigators Say Suspect Arrested In Louisiana Church Burnings Has Ties To Black Metal Music
April 11, 2019, 5 years ago
ABC News is reporting that the suspect who was arrested in connection to three fires at black churches in Louisiana had ties to "black metal" music, investigators said Thursday.
Authorities apprehended Holden Matthews, 21, in St. Landry Parrish after they identified him as the suspect in allegedly setting the fires over a span of 10 days.
"We saw an immediate threat of public safety. We felt that other crimes were imminent," Louisiana State Fire Marshal "Butch" Browning.
Matthews is being held in St. Landry Parrish jail on three counts of simple arson of a religious building.
Browning said that "we're still vetting several motives," but added that they have found that Matthews had ties to "black metal and its association and history with church burnings in other parts of the world."
Black metal, a distant genre of devil-worshipping death metal music, has roots in the Norwegian heavy metal scene that reportedly was the inspiration for several church burnings in the country in the early 1990s.
Gov. John Bel Edwards said that while there were four fires in Louisiana in a 10-day span, only three were in St. Landry Parrish; the other fire was more than 220 miles away and was not connected, authorities said.
"I don't know what this young man's motive was... it cannot be justified or rationalized. These are evil acts," Edwards said.
Read more and watch a video report at ABC News.
(Photo - Louisiana State Fire Marshal)
