CHURCH FIRES IN THE SOUTHEAST HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MAY 21, 1996 Serial No. 98 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 35-829 CC WASHINGTON : 1996 For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-053934-X COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman CARLOS J. MOORHEAD, California JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., PATRICIA SCHROEDER, Colorado Wisconsin BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts BILL MCOLLUM, Florida CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York GEORGE W. GEKAS, Pennsylvania HOWARD L. BERMAN, California HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina RICK BOUCHER, Virginia LAMAR SMITH, Texas JOHN BRYANT, Texas STEVEN SCHIFF, New Mexico JACK REED, Rhode Island ELTON GALLEGLY, California JERROLD NADLER, New York CHARLES T. CANADY, Florida ROBERT C. SCOTT, Virginia BOB INGLIS, South Carolina MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia XAVIER BECERRA, California STEPHEN E. BUYER, Indiana ZOE LOFGREN, California MARTIN R. HOKE, Ohio SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas SONNY BONO, California MAXINE WATERS, California FRED HEINEMAN, North Carolina ED BRYANT, Tennessee STEVE CHABOT, Ohio MICHAEL PATRICK FLANAGAN, Illinois BOB BARR, Georgia ALAN F. COFFEY, JR., General Counsel/Staff Director JULIAN EPSTEIN, Minority Staff Director (II) CONTENTS HEARING DATE Page May 21, 1996 1 OPENING STATEMENT Hyde, Hon. Henry J., a Representative in Congress from the State of Illinois, and chairman, Committee on the Judiciary 1 WITNESSES Brekke, Tron W., Chief, Corruption/Civil Rights Division, Criminal Investiga­ tive Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation 47 Jackson, Rev. Earl W. Sr., national liaison for urban development, Christian Coalition 141 Jarrett, Rev. Algie, pastor, Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, Hardeman County, TN 136 Johnson, James E., Assistant Secretary for Enforcement, Department of the Treasury 66 Land, Richard D, president, Southern Baptist Convention Christian Life Commission 149 Lowery, Rev. Dr. Joseph E., president, Southern Christian Leadership Con­ ference 137 Mackey, Rev. Terrance G., Sr., pastor, Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, Greeleyville, SC 126 Magaw, John W., Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms 26 Patrick, Deval L., Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, Depart­ ment of Justice 19 Payne, Hon. Donald M., a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey 4 Rivers, Nelson III, southeast regional director, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 155 Stewart, Robert M., chief, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division 69 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING Brekke, Tron W., Chief, Corruption/Civil Rights Division, Criminal Investiga­ tive Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation: Information concerning the Freeman standoff in Montana 92 Prepared statement 49 Bryant, Hon. Ed, a Representative in Congress from the State of Tennessee: Prepared statement 187 Hilliard, Hon. Earl F., a Representative in Congress from the State of Ala­ bama: Prepared statement 16 Humes, Rev. Virgil, pastor, New Hope Missionary Baptist Church: Prepared statement 162 Jackson, Rev. Earl W. Sr., national liaison for urban development, Christian Coalition: Prepared statement 144 Jackson Lee, Sheila, a Representative in Congress from the State of Texas: Prepared statement 17 Johnson, James E., Assistant Secretary for Enforcement, Department of the Treasury: Prepared statement 67 Land, Richard D., president, Southern Baptist Convention Christian Life Commission: Prepared statement 152 Lowery, Rev. Dr. Joseph E., president, Southern Christian Leadership Con­ ference: Prepared statement 140 (III) IV Page Mackey, Rev. Terrance G., Sr., pastor, Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, Greeleyville, SC: Prepared statement 128 Magaw, John W., Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms: ATF responses to committee questions 105 ATF responses to Representative Jackson Lee's questions 108 Charts concerning church fires 28, 30, 32, 35 Non-African-American minority church fire investigations by ATF since October 1, 1991 89 Prepared statement 37 Mfume, Hon. Kweisi, president and CEO, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 119 Patrick, Deval L., Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, Depart­ ment of Justice: Information concerning requested resources 113 Prepared statement 22 Payne, Hon. Donald M., a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey: African-American congregation church fires 6 Prepared statement 14 Stewart, Robert M., chief, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division: Pre- pared statement 72 Talbert, Bishop Melvin G., president, and Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary, National Council of the Churches of Chirst in the U.S.A 165 APPENDIX Material submitted for the hearing 189 CHURCH FIRES IN THE SOUTHEAST TUESDAY, MAY 21, 1996 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:40 a.m., in room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Henry J. Hyde (chair- man of the committee) presiding. Present: Representatives Henry J. Hyde, Bill McCollum, George W. Gekas, Howard Coble, Steven Schiff, Bob Goodlatte, Fred Heineman, Ed Bryant of Tennessee, Steve Chabot, Bob Barr, John Conyers, Jr., Barney Frank, Robert C. Scott, Xavier Becerra, Zoe Lofgren, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Maxine Waters. Also present: Alan F. Coffey, Jr., general counsel/staff director; Diana Schacht, deputy general counsel; Kathryn A. Hazeem, chief counsel; Nicole Robilolto, assistant counsel; Kenny Prater, clerk; Julian Epstein, minority staff director; Perry Apelbaum, minority general counsel; Melanie Sloan, minority counsel; and Tom Diaz, minority counsel. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN HYDE Mr. HYDE. The committee will come to order. This morning the House Judiciary Committee turns its attention to a very disturbing development in our Nation, that of the large number of church fires that have occurred in recent months. The trend is particularly troubling because of the number of African- American churches that have fallen victim to these burnings. This year alone there have been 21 church fires involving African-Amer­ ican churches. In 1995, six such incidents were reported and investigated by Federal law enforcement officials. The Federal Bureau of Investiga­ tion, the Civil Rights Division, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are actively involved in these investigations. Law en­ forcement task forces are made up of Federal, State, and local au­ thorities and they've been established in a number of these cases, and over 200 Federal investigators are actively involved at this time. Most of these incidents have occurred, in Southern States: Ten­ nessee, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina,. Mis­ sissippi, Virginia, and Louisiana. But suspicious incidents involving African-American churches are also being investigated in New Jer­ sey and Arizona. It's unclear how many of these fires actually were arson, and it also is unclear how many were racially motivated. To date, there is no evidence of a national conspiracy. There is, how­ (1) 2 ever, considerable evidence that some of these church fires were connected and that some were racially-motivated incidents. The purpose of this hearing is to hear from Federal and State law enforcement officials about the progress being made in these various investigations. In particular, we are interested in how suc­ cessful the Federal, State, local cooperative efforts, and task forces have been. So far, there have been four arrests involving 1995-96 incidents involving four different churches in three different States. We need to know if these agencies feel that current law is adequate and whether it provides them with all the tools necessary to solve such despicable crimes. We will also hear this morning from church leaders and ministers from some of the affected congregations. We want to hear their stories first-hand. Recently, I was contacted by a number of pro-family organiza­ tions, including the Family Research Council, the Christian Coali­ tion and Traditional Values Coalition, and the Catholic League. All urged that hearings be held on this subject, and they stated in part, "The danger exists that additional attacks will be launched by individuals motivated by either racial or religious bigotry, or both. Hearings before your committee could make headway in helping to deter such attacks, elucidate their origins and the existence of any concerted campaign of arson and vandalism, and lead to the arrest and conviction of individuals involved in numerous cases that re- main unsolved to this date." The Judiciary Committee takes its oversight and legislative re­ sponsibilities very seriously. If the evidence ultimately warrants a legislative response to further strengthen Federal law enforcement efforts with respect to these types of incidents, we are prepared to take that action. We will not tolerate acts of violence or desecration based upon religious or racial bigotry anywhere in this country. The gentleman from Michigan, Mr. Conyers, is recognized for an opening statement. Mr. CONYERS. Thank you and good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. We meet here on the cutting edge of the development of race re­ lations in the history of our country. Several things make this