Torch, map found in Md. arson probe

[struggle4progress]

GREENBELT, Md. (January 4, 1:12 pm AST) - Investigators found a propane torch and a map of a housing development in the home of one of the men accused of setting fire to the neighborhood last month, according to federal court documents made public Tuesday.
Inventories from search warrants executed in late December show authorities removed computers, floor mats, notepads and various documents from the homes and vehicles of some of the six suspects charged with arson.

During a search of the home of Aaron Speed on Dec. 15, the FBI removed a propane torch, a 5-gallon bucket used for a drywall joint compound, a map of home sites at Hunters Brooke and a notebook titled "Safety Course for Firing Site Laboratory Personnel."

Speed, 21, worked as a security guard at the Indian Head development. According to court documents, he told authorities during a Dec. 10 interview the fires could hypothetically be set by pouring accelerant on the houses and lighting it with a "hand held propane torch." <snip>

http://www.adn.com/24hour/nation/story/1971206p-9989395c.html


Federal Jury Indicts 5 in Subdivision Fires in Maryland

<snip> The fires destroyed 10 unoccupied houses and damaged 16 others in what officials called the costliest residential arson in Maryland. <snip>

Prosecutors, responding to questions at a news conference at the federal courthouse here, said they had not ruled out racism as a possible motive. All the suspects are white, and many of the home buyers at Hunters Brooke are black. <snip>

Mr. Gilbert, according to court papers, told investigators that the fires had been planned to gain notoriety for a car club where some defendants were members. An affidavit said the group, the Family or the Unseen Cavaliers, a reference to Chevrolet Cavaliers, was interested in racing automobiles on back roads. <snip>

http://www.goupstate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050104/ZNYT02/501040350/1051/NEWS01


Five indicted in arson; motives still not clear

<snip> Early in the investigation, speculation centered on the theory that the arson had been an act of ecoterrorism, but law-enforcement officials more recently have focused on suspicions that the fires were hate crimes or the actions of a disgruntled employee. <snip>

http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20050103-105943-5586r.htm

[MGKrebs]

1. A Chevrolet Cavalier racing club?

Dare I say it?
That's about all I need to know about these guys!

[daleo]

2. Isn't there something about the term cavalier

The old south (pre civil war) tried to associate itself with this faction of the English Civil War - something like that. That is the only connection between racism, notoriety, and this make of car (name) that I can think of.

[struggle4progress]

3. Maybe they sought notoriety for their "Cavalier Racist Club" ... eom

[goclark]

4. yep that's it!

[bemildred]

5. Notice they don't admit the "eco-terrorism" stuff was horseshit. nt

[malachi]

6. White terrorists. They should lock up all the white people in this

country and throw away the key. Maybe send then back to where they came from.