Man Pleads Guilty to Arson of African-American Churches

A Department of Justice press release from November 2, 2020 announced the sentencing of Holden Matthews, 23, for intentionally setting fire to three African-American Baptist churches. St. Mary Baptist Church, Greater Union Baptist Church, and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church were all burned to the ground by Matthews.

FBI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Bryan Vorndran said of the crime, “A cornerstone of our constitution is the Freedom of Religion and the right to practice your faith freely and without intimidation. Matthews’s acts of threatening and intimidating an entire community by setting fire to three historically African American churches were unspeakable. 

Matthews pled guilty to the charges and said he had lit the fires because of their religious character and in order to gain influence in the “Black Metal” community, which has a history of burning churches in Norway. He posted pictures and videos of his crimes on Facebook to increase his status in the community. Over a period of ten days, he lit fires at the three Louisiana churches. The fires completely destroyed the churches and Matthews was sentenced to 300 months in jail with 3 years supervised release in addition to owing restitution.

Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the of the Civil Rights Division said, “These churches trace their origins to the post-Civil War Reconstruction period and, for generations, were a place for predominantly African American Christians to gather, pray, worship, and celebrate their faith. The churches survived for nearly 150 years but did not survive this defendant’s warped act of hatred. I extend my sympathy to the victims of this defendant’s arson spree, the congregants of Saint Mary Baptist Church, Greater Union Baptist Church, and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church.”