(CNN) — Fires that consumed three historically black Louisiana churches in 10 days are believed to have been intentionally set, a local elected official said Tuesday. The official did not provide specifics about the ongoing investigation but told CNN some pastors in the heart of south-central Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole country are sleeping in their churches as a precaution against additional fires. It is still unclear who is responsible for the fires and will likely take investigators time to sift through what evidence remains to determine if the blazes are connected. As they do, residents and worshippers in St. Landry Parish, where all three fires occurred, are withholding judgment about what may have caused them, even as officials say they contained “suspicious elements” and the episodes evoke recollections of past acts of hate against black churches. “I feel our district was being targeted because all three of the churches were in our district,” Pastor Freddie Jack, the Seventh District Missionary Baptist Association president, told CNN’s Don Lemon on Monday. “At first we thought it might have been an electrical problem, but then when the second church … burning occurred I realized it was our sister church. … Then two days later the third occurred so at least (to) me, (it) made me think that we’re being targeted.” St. Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre burned on March 26, followed by Greater Union Baptist Church in Opelousas on April 2 and two days later, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in the same town. Officials are also investigating a fourth, smaller fire on March 31 at the predominantly white Vivian United Pentecostal Church in Caddo Parish, more than 200 miles north of St. Landry. The blaze was intentionally set. St. Landry Parish is nearly 42% black. Opelousas is 75% black. The city’s mayor, Julius Alsandor, called the church burnings “hideous.” “The relevance and the impact on the people in the surrounding communities and especially the congregation of each of these churches, it’s hurtful and there may be some fear that is being exhibited by those who are a part of the three churches,” he said. Hurt, fear and confusion – that’s all the congregants are left with for now. “We don’t know why, we don’t know when, we don’t know who,” the Rev. Gerald Toussaint of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church told CNN affiliate KATC. “We will let the authorities handle that, but we just know a higher power and a higher authority who can bring this thing to fruition.” ’More questions than answers’ In an appeal for the public’s help, Gov. John Bel Edwards said he has directed the state fire marshal as well as local and federal authorities to “aggressively investigative” the fires. “Churches are sacred places, and no one should fear for their safety in their house of worship,” he said. “And no one should be concerned that their house of worship would be destroyed.” “Right now, there are more questions than answers, but hopefully the investigation will yield information we can share with the public in short order,” the governor said in his State of the State address, according to CNN affiliate KTBS. The FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting in the investigations. And as they look for answers, congregants wait. “Something is not right, something isn’t right, but God has the last word,” Ethel Thomas, a member of Mount Pleasant, told KATC. “We’re going to keep on keeping on.” Thomas told the news station, “It was heartbreaking, I wanted to cry, but I say I’ll hold it in. “I had cried so much already when they called to let me know that our church was burned. I didn’t know what else to do, I just said, ‘Lord you’re in control.’ “ NAACP labels the fires “domestic terrorism’ State Fire Marshal H. “Butch” Browning said in a statement there is “clearly something happening” in the community. “We believe these three fires are suspicious,” Browning said. “We are falling short of talking about what caused the fires, falling short of saying they are related, however cognizant that there is a problem and no coincidence that there are three fires.” The NAACP labeled the fires “domestic terrorism,” adding the “spike in church burnings in Southern states is a reflection of the emboldened racial rhetoric and tension spreading across the country.” The American Civil Liberties Union called the events “deeply disturbing.” But Jack said it’s just too early for conclusions. “I can’t say for one reason or another that the actual burning was a racist act or a hate crime until we can determine who caused them, who’s behind them. I don’t think that we can rightfully or truthfully say it was either or,” he told Lemon. “We need the facts before we can generate thought that’s concerning what it was.” And the facts may take a while, because most of the evidence is likely gone. “Investigating a fire is a very lengthy process,” Browning said. “It’s one of the most complicated and unconventional crime scenes you’ll ever enter because most of the evidence is burned away.” “The problem with arson investigations is the same as bomb investigations: The evidence gets destroyed.” CNN law enforcement analyst James Gagliano said. “That’s going to be the issue. You’ve got to go back and piece this together when a lot of the evidence would have been burned up in the fire.” Authorities are reviewing a long list of clues. “Similar type of accelerant, any type of incendiary device that could have possibly been planted there, and then link in the houses, what things could be found at what crime scene that could be linked to another, find out if there’s a pattern and if there’s somebody here who’s a serial arsonist,” Gagliano said. About 100 federal, state and local investigators are on the case, Louisiana Fire Marshal’s Office spokeswoman Ashley Rodrigue said. Florida has sent seven people to help out the fire marshal’s office. ’These houses of faith have historically been the targets of violence’ Church burnings were a common occurrence in the Jim Crow era.<doc-sep>ATLANTA — Three historically black churches have burned in less than two weeks in one south Louisiana parish, where officials said they had found “suspicious elements” in each case. The officials have not ruled out the possibility of arson, or the possibility that the fires are related. “There is clearly something happening in this community,” State Fire Marshal H. Browning said in a statement on Thursday. “That is why it is imperative that the citizens of this community be part of our effort to figure out what it is.” The three fires occurred on March 26, April 2 and April 4 in St. Landry Parish, north of Lafayette. A fourth fire, a small blaze that officials said was “intentionally set,” was reported on Sunday at a predominantly white church in Caddo Parish, about a three-hour drive north. “But just as we haven’t connected the three in St. Landry, we haven’t connected the one in Caddo,” said Ashley Rodrigue, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal, on Friday.<doc-sep>OPELOUSAS, La. — Much of Monica Harris’s identity is tied to the Greater Union Baptist Church, a 129-year-old sanctuary that has been at the center of her family for generations. As a child, she was dunked into a baptismal basin and then paraded like a princess up the aisle in a white dress and white patent leather shoes. She was married at the church, and she said goodbye to her parents there, too. And so she felt like a piece of her was missing when she set eyes upon the charred remains of Greater Union, one of three predominantly black churches in St. Landry Parish, La., that law enforcement authorities said were set ablaze and destroyed over the stretch of 10 days. “Seeing the church in the condition it is now,” Ms. Harris, 57, said of the tan brick sanctuary where her parents raised their 12 children and where they celebrated dozens of weddings, funerals and Bible studies, “it’s almost like losing a family member.” It was still not known Monday whether the fires were intentionally set or whether they were motivated by racism. Still, they have drawn the attention of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the F.B.I., which are assisting the Louisiana state fire marshal. The authorities said Monday that they were vetting new information every hour and that an A.T.F. crane had arrived at one of the churches to help process the scene.<doc-sep>After three churches in central Louisiana were destroyed by fire in little more than a week, civil rights advocates have expressed concern that black congregations are being targeted. “We must not turn a blind eye to any incident where people are targeted because of the color of their skin or their faith,” said Derrick Johnson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), in a statement on Monday. He also referred to the fires as “domestic terrorism”. Three Baptist churches in St Landry Parish – Mount Pleasant, St Mary and Greater Union – burned between 26 March and 4 April. Sheriff Bobby Guidroz has increased security at other houses of worship in the parish, just north of Lafayette and about 100 miles north-east of New Orleans. Authorities have called the fires “suspicious”. Late last week, Louisiana Fire Marshal H “Butch” Browning said “patterns” had been discovered. “There certainly is commonality and whether that leads to a person or persons or groups, we don’t know,” he said. Pastor Freddie Jack, president of the Seventh District Missionary Baptist Association, told CNN on Monday: “At first we thought it might have been an electrical problem but then when the second church … burning occurred I realized it was our sister church … then two days later the third occurred so … [it] made me think that we’re being targeted.” Ashley Rodrigue, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana fire marshall, said investigators had not concluded the fires were connected. In the same two-week span, a fire was “intentionally set” at a predominantly white church in Caddo Parish, Louisiana and at a building housing a social justice not-for-profit group in New Market, Tennessee. At the Tennessee blaze, which destroyed the headquarters of the Highlander Center, authorities found graffiti associated with the white power movement. According to the center’s executive directors, the fire destroyed “decades of historic documents, speeches, artifacts and memorabilia” from the civil rights movement. According to FBI data, hate crimes have been on the rise in the US since 2015. Johnson tied the fires to “emboldened racial rhetoric and tension spreading across the country”. “For decades,” he said, “African American churches have served as the epicenter of survival and a symbol of hope for many in the African American community. As a consequence, these houses of faith have historically been the targets of violence.” In one week in the summer of 2015 there were reports of at least seven fires at black churches in southern states. Foul play was ruled out in several cases. In four cases in which investigators concluded intentional arson was involved, no arrests were made. On Tuesday morning the House judiciary committee commenced a hearing on Hate Crimes and the Rise of White Nationalism, at the urging of the NAACP. In Louisiana, Alanah Odoms Hebert, executive director of the state American Civil Liberties Union, said the fires were a “deeply disturbing” reminder of the violence that communities of color face in the south. “While the investigation into the cause of the fires continues,” she said, “it’s on all of us to speak out against hate and intolerance, and stand in solidarity with the communities affected by these tragedies”.<doc-sep>
(CNN) — For three historically black churches in the heart of south central Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole country, Sunday services will not be the same. The churches in rural St. Landry Parish – about 30 miles north of Lafayette – have burned since March 26 in what officials have described as “suspicious circumstances.” “There is clearly something happening in this community,” State Fire Marshal H. Browning said in a statement. Standing outside the charred remains of the Greater Union Baptist Church in Opelousas – which burned on Tuesday – Pastor Harry Richard said he looked forward to meeting elsewhere with his congregation on Sunday. “Quite naturally, something like this would shake us up,” he told CNN affiliate KLFY. Why are black church fires associated with acts of hate? “I’m very concerned but I’m very optimistic because of our faith in God and, no matter what happens, I feel like this is his plan,” Richard said. “He’s going to bring me through this.” In one parish, three churches burn in 10 days Leslie Westbrook/AP Firefighter battles blaze at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church on Thursday. The first fire occurred March 26 at St. Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre. Greater Union burned on Tuesday and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, also in Opelousas, suffered a fire on Thursday. “We believe these three fires are suspicious,” Browning said. “We are falling short of talking about what caused the fires, falling short of saying they are related, however cognizant that there is a problem and no coincidence that there are three fires.” Officials were also investigating a fourth, smaller fire last Sunday at the predominantly white Vivian United Pentecostal Church in Caddo Parish more than 200 miles north of St. Landry. The blaze was intentionally set. “The three fires in St. Landry Parish contain suspicious elements, but we have not yet classified them,” said Ashley Rodrigue, a spokeswoman for the state fire marshal. Gov. John Bel Edwards this week appealed for the public’s help with the investigations. “Our churches are sacred, central parts of our communities and everyone should feel safe in their place of worship, ” he said in a statement. “We do not know the cause of these fires in St. Landry and Caddo parishes, but my heart goes out to each of the congregations and all of those who call these churches home.” Law enforcement presence increases at houses of worship Browning said the remains of the three historically black churches in St. Landry Parish are considered crime scenes. “Investigating a fire is a very lengthy process,” he said. “It’s one of the most complicated and unconventional crime scenes you’ll ever enter because most of the evidence is burned away.” The FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting in the investigations. “It’s imperative that the citizens of this community be part of our effort to figure out what it is,” Browning said. St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said authorities were “doing everything we can” to protect churches and determine the cause of the fires. Law enforcement presence at houses of worship has increased. “You got to have a certain degree of anger because there’s no reason for this,” Deacon Earnest Hines of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Opelousas told CNN affiliate WBRZ. “You know the history of our country. During the civil rights struggle, they had all these incidents that would happen and sometimes that happens again,” he said. Richard told CNN affiliate KATC Greater Union Baptist Church embodied more than 100 years of history. “Our parents, grandparents went here,” he said. “Buried in the back there, some of them are.” On Sunday, he told KLFY, he planned to preach about God’s grace to his displaced congregation. “God’s grace is undeserved merit. I know we don’t deserve this, but he gives us something better than this, and that’s undeserved grace,” Richard said.