Burned Black Churches May Be ‘Violent Backlash’ After Charleston Shooting

[DonViejo]

Kate Briquelet

One after another, predominantly black churches have burned down across the South in the wake of Dylann Roof’s massacre. Some have been ruled arson—but are they hate crimes?

Days after the Charleston massacre, several predominantly black churches in the South have burned down. Now federal officials are investigating whether any of the blazes—three of which have been ruled arson—could be hate crimes.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which highlighted the rash of fires, said the incidents “may not be a coincidence” in the wake of Dylann Roof killing nine people at a historically black church. Since the June 17 shooting, Southern states have also been embroiled in a debate over flying the Confederate flag.

“We’re in a very intense moment in which one man has tried to start a race war,” Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the advocacy firm, told The Daily Beast. “We’re looking at the possibility of a violent backlash building.”

“Certainly we don’t know that they were hate crimes…but it’s possible one or more of these were responses to the defeat of the Confederate battle flag or white supremacists hoping to further the race war Dylann Roof wanted to start,” Potok added.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/29/burned-black-churches-may-be-violent-backlash-after-charleston-shooting.html

[Iliyah]

1. It is . .

Please GOD, no more injuries and deaths behind this travesty.

[HassleCat]

2. Copy cats

When Hinckley shot Reagan, how many guys do you think wrote long letters to Jody Foster, pledging their eternal love, and promising to succeed where Hinckley failed? These people sit at their keyboards and absorb information that convinces them the white masses are just waiting for the right inspiration to rise up and take back what is rightfully theirs, blah, blah, blah...

[Nitram]

3. The church burnings are clearly a reaction to the repudiation of the confederate flag.

More proof that the flag is a symbol of white supremacy and racism. And a symbol of the long southern "heritage" of burning down African-American churches to intimidate the black population.

[MuttLikeMe]

4. Exactly

[jwirr]

11. That is definitely part of it. The killings in the chruch, the flag issue and hate are all in it.

[frogmarch]

5. Of course they are.

They are racist tantrums.

[JustAnotherGen]

6. Now I'll pay attention

Was waiting for the SPLC - when they say it - it's probably got legs.

And I have tremendous respect for the beautiful mind of Mark Potok.

[Stellar]

8. I think he's great too!

I still think this should be labeled terrorist acts, because how many other places of worship have been burned down in the last 7-8 days in the south?

[Orsino]

7. It's not a backlash. It's the same old lash. n/t

[whatthehey]

9. Yah - aren't backlashes supposed to be the victims fighting back against the aggressor?

Rather than the aggressor doing the same kind of thing to similar victims?

[Jefferson23]

10. So far it does not look like a coincidence..far from it. n/t