On the night the non-indictment against Darren Wilson was announced there were demonstrations, looting and cars and buildings were set on fire in Ferguson, Missouri. No one disputes this. But except for one building, all of the fires occurred in or near the area of the protests on West Florissant Avenue.
The one building that burned to the ground far from where the police were firing tear gas into the crowds of protestors, and those taking advantage of the demonstrations to loot and burn, just happened to be the church that Michael Brown’s family were members and attended.
As chaos engulfed several Ferguson streets Monday, [Pastor] Lee tried unsuccessfully to chase away looters and put out fires along West Florissant Avenue. Then his phone rang.
The officer on the other end of the line told him that he needed to get to his church right away. By the time Lee arrived, the cinder-block structure had been gutted by flames. […]
Although other buildings were burned during the violence that consumed much of Ferguson on Monday, the flames at Flood Christian Church were different. The church building, purchased in March by the 31-year-old Lee, sits well outside the area where things were violent, far from the riots. The glass storefronts on each side remain unscathed.
Pastor Lee began speaking out in September demanding that Officer Wilson stand trial for the death of Michael Brown. Shortly thereafter he received a series of death threats.
“Seventy-one death threats. But I’ll never forget what one man said to me: ‘I’m going to come pick you up with all you other hateful n—– preachers and put you all in your church and burn you straight to hell.”
An arson unit of the ATF is investigating the fire because burning a church is a federal offense. Pastor Lee and other community members believe his church was targeted, possibly by white supremacists, because of his support for the Brown family. I have yet to see any reports of arson investigations by the Ferguson police or any other law enforcement or local fire department officials in St. Louis into what looks like a deliberate case of arson.
Alcohol Tobacco and Firearm investigators said somebody purposely set fire to Flood Christian Church on Monday night at 11:44 p.m.
Burning a church is a federal offense.
ATF agents said somebody forced open the front door and started the fire in the children’s area.
This Sunday the church will hold its services in a parking lot. Naturally, his insurance company is refusing to pay for damages. They informed Pastor Lee that his policy did not cover damages because it was located in “an area where riots and civil disobedience occurred.” The fact that the church is no where near the area where the other buildings were burned and that there were no demonstrations or protests in its vicinity apparently does not matter to the whoever denied the Flood Church’s claim.
Anyone wishing to donate funds to rebuild the Flood Christian Church can go to their Go Fund Me site here: Mike Brown Church The Flood
