Holden Matthews, the 22-year-old black metal fan who was arrested in April 2019 for setting three black churches on fire in Louisiana, has pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act and one count of using fire to commit a federal felony. The man set the fires at St. Mary Baptist Church on March 26, 2019, Greater Union Baptist on April 2, 2019, and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church on April 4, 2019 in an effort to raise his profile as a black metal musician. He also took photos and video in real time to post on Facebook.
Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division said the following
“The Department of Justice will remain unwavering in its protection of the freedom to practice religion without the threat of discrimination or violence. Matthews admitted to setting fire to three churches because of their religious character. His disgraceful conduct violated the civil rights of the church’s parishioners and harmed their communities.”
U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph of the Western District of Louisiana also commented:
“Today, the defendant has taken responsibility for the burning and destruction of three of our churches. The freedom to safely congregate and worship in our churches is a fundamental right of all Americans and will be vigorously protected by my office and our law enforcement partners. I want to thank the ATF, FBI, St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office, St. Landry Parish Fire Department, Louisiana State Fire Marshal, Louisiana Attorney General’s Cybercrime Unit, Louisiana State Police, and the Florida State Fire Marshal for their hard work and seamless collaboration on this case.”
Special Agent in Charge Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office added:
“Holden Matthews made a conscious decision to randomly target and destroy churches within his own community. His atrocious actions inflicted severe pain and grief upon these congregations, as well as all of St. Landry Parish. Throughout this investigation, the men and women of the FBI, ATF, Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office, St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office, St. Landry Parish District Attorney’s Office, Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s Cybercrime Unit, and the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office worked tirelessly to bring Holden Matthews to justice.”
ATF Special Agent in Charge Kurt Thielhorn also had the following to say:
“Protecting our communities is a vital part of our mission. ATF will continue to provide expertise and resources to investigate arson at houses of worship which threaten the well-being of our communities. I would like to thank all of our law enforcement partners for working tirelessly to ensure justice will be served.”
Matthews originally got caught after a gas can was traced back to a local Walmart and linked to his credit card. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 22 and will be facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of 70 years in prison.
The Daily Beast previously reported that Matthews was “active in pagan and black metal pages” and that he left comments on two memes about Varg Vikernes (Burzum), the former neo-Nazi that served 15 years in prison after murdering Mayhem’s Øystein “Euronymous” Aarseth and burning churches down in Norway. The Associated Press also previously reported that he was upset that his parents were not supporting his band and that he was discouraged after a friend criticized his music.
[via Blabbermouth]
Metal Anarchy 
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