NATION IN BRIEF : NORTH CAROLINA : Police Offer Reason for Church Blaze
A 13-year-old white girl charged with torching the sanctuary of a black church apparently acted alone out of anti-Christian beliefs, Charlotte police said. The wooden sanctuary of Charlotte’s Matthews-Murkland Presbyterian Church was destroyed June 6, and the girl was arrested three days later. The girl harbors beliefs opposed to both Christians and African Americans, Charlotte Police spokesman Keith Bridges said. She did not know blacks attended the church, police said. The fire was one of 34 at churches with predominantly black congregations across the South in the last 18 months.
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