Reputed white supremacist set for church fire plea

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Reputed white supremacist set for church fire plea
Sep 2, 2011 4:02am

MIDLAND, Texas (AP) — A man prosecutors say torched a predominantly black church in West Texas is scheduled to enter a plea in federal court in Midland on Friday.

A statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Midland says Steven Cantrell is a member of the white supremacist Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. He's charged with destroying religious real property in the fire at the Faith in Christ Church in Crane, Texas. The town of about 3,000 residents is about 30 miles south of Odessa.

The Dec. 28 fire burned most of a church complex of four connected buildings. No injuries were reported.


Read more: http://www.necn.com/09/02/11/Reputed-white-supremacist-set-for-church/landing_nation.html?&apID=f3191431b5774c5089578166e7e4a3aa

[No Elephants]

1. Burning churches? They jumped all over Bubba for saying that. Said it never happened.

Before someone says anything about Texas or the South, someone burned down a church in Western Massachusetts the night Obama got elected, to my shame.

The guy got caught not too long ago. Denied race was an issue.

[oldhippydude]

2. onward Christian terrorists

marching as to war

[ForgoTheConsequence]

3. Did you even read the article?

It was a Christian church that got burned. The Aryan Brotherhood isn't a Christian organization. Most of them practice a form a paganism called Odinism, if they're even religious at all. There are a lot of Neo-Nazi groups that reject Christianity because they view it as a Semitic religion.

[bengalherder]

4. A few are Asatru/odinists, sure.

Most are 'Christian Identity'.

Aryan Brotherhood is sure as shit a 'christian' organization, or at least they think they are, but they are more likely to have burnt the church because of the blacks than because of the practice of christianity.

[oldhippydude]

5. ever heard of

Christian Idenity... with the swastica cross? that's who these guys are

[Mojorabbit]

6. Just a note to say plenty of Asatru are not neo nazis

I know a lot of them. There are however( as in many religions) a branch of crazies who are.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Man pleads guilty in Crane fires

Man pleads guilty in Crane fires (+COURT DOCUMENTS)
Case goes federal because of hate crime civil rights violations
September 02, 2011 1:21 PM
BY JON VANDERLAAN

When he set fire to the Faith in Christ Church in Crane because he believed a disabled black man lived there, Steven Scott Cantrell was trying to send a message to the Aryan Brotherhood in Texas: He could be useful to the gang. Cantrell, 25, could have spent life in prison for setting fire to the church and being racially motivated to do so, as the congregation is primarily black.

He instead pleaded guilty to four federal charges Friday in exchange for a punishment range between 412 months and 485 months in prison after being accused of numerous arsons motivated by race, color and ethnicity as part of an attempt to impress the Texas Aryan Brotherhood.

~snip~
Boutros also said during the hearing that another motivation for the church fire is because Cantrell believed a disabled black man lived in the church, and Cantrell thought the man was in the church.

Cantrell also was accused of setting Craig’s Gym on fire because he believed the gym helped minorities and the owner was married to a woman of Mexican descent and setting fire to a house because he believed its occupant was Jewish.

When he set fire to the Faith in Christ Church in Crane because he believed a disabled black man lived there, Steven Scott Cantrell was trying to send a message to the Aryan Brotherhood in Texas: He could be useful to the gang.

http://www.oaoa.com/news/church-71442-cantrell-accused.html