Fires struck 3 black churches in 10 days in southern Louisiana. Authorities think it’s 'suspicious.'
Firefighters and fire investigators respond to a fire Thursday at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Opelousas, La. By Kayla Epstein Kayla Epstein Embedded audience editor on the National desk Email Bio Follow April 6 at 2:53 PM The sun rose Thursday morning to reveal the smoldering husk of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Opelousas, La. An overnight fire had consumed the church’s interior; smoke rose through a gaping hole in the roof that had sheltered congregants for generations.
Authorities are considering the same questions after Mount Pleasant became the third predominantly black church to burn down in Louisiana’s St. Landry Parish in the span of 10 days, setting local residents on edge. On March 26, flames reduced St. Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre to just a few remaining walls and piles of rubble. And on April 2, a blaze struck the Greater Union Baptist Church in Opelousas.
“There is clearly something happening in this community,” Browning said in a statement on Thursday. “That’s why it’s imperative that the citizens of this community be part of our effort to figure out what it is.” For some, the recent fires recall a dark history of attacks and threats against black churches in the South. During Reconstruction and the civil rights movement, black churches were targeted with fires, bombings and threats.
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