Twenty-one-year-old Holden Matthews has pleaded guilty to federal and state criminal charges for burning black churches in Louisiana, as reported by the AP.
The aspiring ‘black metal’ musician and son of a sheriff’s deputy entered guilty pleas into federal court for three counts of intentional damage to religious property, which is a federal hate crime, as well as one count of using fire to commit a felony. In state court, he also pleaded guilty to six related state charges.
“Matthews admitted to setting the fires because of the religious character of these buildings, in an effort to raise his profile as a ‘Black Metal’ musician by copying similar crimes committed in Norway in the 1990s,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Matthews posted photos and videos of the burnings to his Facebook page.
His sentence has yet to be determined, but hate-crimes carry 20 years in prison while using fire in a felony holds a 10-year sentence, totaling a maximum of 70 years. At a minimum, he would get 10 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The charges do not mention racial motivation, though the burned churches had largely black members. The churches were empty at the time of the fires, so there were no injuries or deaths.
“The freedom to safely congregate and worship in our churches is a fundamental right of all Americans and will be…
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