Arson at the Kingdom Hall

by detective 11 Replies latest social current

• 

  detective

  I hope this isn't a repeat...

  From yesterday's Boston Globe:

  http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2003/11/30/jehovahs_witness_church_destroyed_in_arson_teenager_charged/

  WESTFIELD, Mass. -- A teenager was charged with setting a fire that destroyed a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall Sunday morning, officials said.

  Robert Nicoletti, 18, of Westfield, was arrested after he was seen leaving the area of the church. The fire was reported shortly before 6 a.m.

  No one was injured, but the two-alarm blaze gutted the church on Southwick Road, according to Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Pac. A nearby storage shed that Nicoletti allegedly broke into was also destroyed.

  State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan estimated the damage at between $400,000 to $500,000.

  Pac said a suspicious liquid that may be gasoline was found around the building, and that apparently sped up the fire's spread. He said it took about two hours to get the fire under control.

  The fire was not thought to be a hate crime.

  "We found there's no direct motive of an anti-religious activity," Coan said.

  Nicoletti was being held Sunday on $10,000 cash bail and was scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning in Westfield District Court for burning a building and breaking and entering

  .
• 

  SpunkyChick

  The fire was not thought to be a hate crime.

  "We found there's no direct motive of an anti-religious activity," Coan said.

  Well what was his motive then?? Interesting article. Thanks for sharing!
• 

  metatron

  Things like this happen more often than some think. There's lots of emotionally ill people in the "truth"

  metatron
• 

  czarofmischief

  Breaking Benjamin? Was that you, you naughty boy?

  CZAR
• 

  Gopher

  I wonder how the authorities can say "this doesn't appear to be a hate crime" when they haven't really interrogated the young man who did it. They barely got him into custody.

  I'm also surprised that the story doesn't state whether or not the arsonist had ever been a member of the congregation.

  In any event, JW's do a lot of things that bug some people and seriously disturb others. Burning down their Kingdom Hall is not the answer, of course. That only contributes to their sense of martyrdom and to their persecution complex, making them think that they are (of course) the true faith since no other churches in town got torched.
• 

  tink

  That only contributes to their sense of martyrdom and to their persecution complex, making them think that they are (of course) the true faith since no other churches in town got torched

  that's exactly what i was thinking. i mean, it's terrible that the congregation was burned down, but you know this event will be milked for all it's worth and then some.
• 

  benext

  I went to a KH that someone tried to burn down. Rumor had it he was DF'd and was trying to destroy the records.
• 

  Smyler

  State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan estimated the damage at between $400,000 to $500,000.

  Since when is a Kingdom Hall worth a half a million dollars??
• 

  Stephanus

  The Austinmer/Bulli KH was burned down here a few years ago. The perp was dismissed even by the Dubs as a nutter with no particular grudge against them. (The fact that he burned down a non-JW operated take-away further up the road in Bulli the same night probably convinced everyone of that).
• 

  detective

  Well, Massachusetts realty prices are astronomical- even if it a speck of a town we're talking about- so it's possible it's worth that amount.

  I wonder if they would mention it if he was a member/former member. I hadn't thought of that!