Critter Sitter's Blog: The Three Saint Landry Parish Church Fires & How You Can Help

Saint Landry is a Parish in the state of Louisiana. The Parish seat is the town of Opelousas, which is about 60 miles west of the state capital of Baton Rouge, and about 30 miles north of Lafayette. The population of Saint Landry and fluctuated over the years, and has been in a downward trend. The 2010 Census showed a little over 83,000 people living in the parish. At that time, the demographics of the parish were 56% white, 41% African-American, and a little over 1% each of both Hispanic and two or more mixed blood lines. Saint Landry Parish is the heart of the Cajun and Creole culture and heritage. The per capita income for each person in the parish is only $12,042 per year. The average income per family for one year is less than $29,000.
Over a period of ten days - on March 26, April 2, and April 4 - three Baptist Churches were burnt, essentially, to the ground. Each of those churches had been in existence for over 100 years. Each church was a member of the Seventh District Baptist Association. And each church has a mainly African-American membership.
On Tuesday, 26 March, the Saint Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre was burnt to the ground. On Tuesday, 2 April, the Greater Union Baptist Church in Opelousas was burnt down. On Thursday, 4 April, the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Opelousas was also set aflame. Each church was set on fire using gasoline as an accelerant, and gasoline soaked rags were placed to encourage the spread of the fire. Luckily, all of the churches were empty at the times of the fires. One couple had to be evacuated from their nearby home, though, when fire from the church blaze started a fire on the side of their home.
Tuesday, 16 April, three weeks after the first fire, a twenty-one year old man from Saint Landry Parish was charged with the arson of three religious buildings, and at the hearing the state added three hate crimes charges, stating the fires were racially motivated. The accused is white, and the son of a Deputy Sheriff in Saint Landry Parish. Through his attorney, the young man gave a "not guilty" plea. He was denied bail for two reasons: first, that he would set more fires, and, second, that he might flee. Jury selection has been set for early September.
The case against the young man was made pretty clear in the hearing today. His cellphone records place him at the scene of the fires each night; he has cellphone photos of the fires prior to the arrival of either law enforcement or fire officials; and he sent messages to friends claiming responsibility. His truck was seen on several video feeds near the fires close to the time they started. The prosecution has receipts where the young man purchased "cleaning rags" of the type used in the fires, as well as gasoline cans. And there is testimony that he planned the fires out loud in front of his friends.

The Seventh District Baptist Association is raising money to rebuild the churches destroyed by fire. Retired New Orleans Saints tight end Ben (Benjamin) Watson has made a plea for people to send monies to assist in the rebuilding. Hillary Clinton tweeted on Tuesday, asking people to donate to the effort to rebuild the three churches in Louisiana. Before the Cathedral of Notre Dame caught fire yesterday, there were donations of $150,000 to the Saint Landry Churches. They need an estimated $1.8 million to rebuild all three. When I wrote this blog, donations on the Go Fund Me website had jumped to over $1,066,000 ..... There are two ways to donate for the rebuilding of the three Saint Landry Parish Baptist Churches - you can send a check (made out to Seventh District Baptist Association) to:
Seventh District Baptist Association
Seventh District
P.O. Box 281
Ville Platte, LA 70586

...or you can donate on the Go Fund Me website at:
https://www.gofundme.com/church-fires-st-landry-parishmacedonia-ministry

I have already donated.

Here are photos of the Saint Landry Churches, before and after the fires...