Racist graffiti found on small Texas church before it burned to the ground; Police spark outrage after revealing the incident was merely a fire investigation

Authorities in Paris, Texas, are investigating a suspicious fire last week that destroyed a black church that was reportedly spray-painted with racial slurs before it went up in flames.

Authorities remained silent following the Sept. 29 fire, leading some community members to doubt their commitment to a thorough investigation. At least one activist has raised concerns that city officials could also be prioritizing maintaining the city’s reticent repute over addressing real issues, including ongoing racial discord.

The Love Tabernacle Church, a single-story wood-frame structure, was completely engulfed when the Paris fire brigade arrived at the scene at 11:15 p.m. and set fire to hoses.

But by then it was too late. The constructing, which stood for 3 years on the corner of Center Street and thirteenth NE, finally reduced to ashes.

Photos of the graffiti were reportedly sent to the Paris fire marshal, who arrived a short time later to inspect the scene. The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office was also called in to assist.

Meanwhile, Paris police Capt. Terry Bull identified that the fire department was investigating potential criminal charges without detectives.

Elsewhere, Pastor Tristan Love said his ministry has been in its current location since 2021 and that services will temporarily proceed in Cooper, Texas, until further notice.

There was nobody in the constructing when the fire broke out and no casualties were reported.

State and native authorities proceed to investigate, but no further details have been released. Marshals didn’t say whether or not they suspected arson.

Local activists have called on investigators to file hate crime charges, but police have yet to discover any suspects, drawing immediate criticism from the black community.

“I have been doing this for over 20 years and things are not getting better because they are not being paid attention to. They are blurred or hidden,” said Brenda Cherry, a rights activist in Paris. According to KXII News 12. “I haven’t heard of a black church burning down before. Not in this area, but racist graffiti – it’s common.”

Cherry added that she didn’t know why anyone would goal a spiritual sanctuary.

“It’s a place where people go to worship,” Cherry said. “Nobody comes here to do anything bad. So why would someone burn down a church? And why would someone write racist graffiti on a church? Don’t do that.

Cherry expressed doubts about local authorities’ ability to determine whether the fire was racially motivated, suggesting city officials had previously downplayed similar controversies.

“City officials need to address issues like this and not be afraid that it will lead to racial or racial tensions because we already have that,” she said. “They need to do better.”

Racist attacks on black churches have a long history, dating back to the early nineteenth century a whole bunch of cases related to arsonbombings, murders and hate crimes, often committed by white supremacists and domestic extremists.

The first recorded church fire in the United States occurred when the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina, burned down in 1822. The church was rebuilt on the same site, and 193 years later it became a place of yet one more hatred: the tragedy was motivated by the shooting of nine black parishioners during Bible study by an avowed white supremacist in 2015.

In 1921, during the Tulsa Massacre in Oklahoma, white mobs bombed and destroyed churches.

Decades later, during the civil rights movement, there was an increasing wave of violent church fires and bombings, most notably the September 1963 bombing of the sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The attack, which took place during a Sunday service, injured 22 people and claimed the lives of 4 young black girls.

Violence against black churches dropped to single digit levels between 1970 and 1980 and was almost non-existent until attacks escalated again in the early Nineteen Nineties.

Over an 18-month period between 1995 and 1996, greater than 30 black churches were set on fire, prompting Congress to pass the Church Arson Prevention Act to stop attacks nationwide.

Arsons against black churches remain a significant issue, and there have been greater than a dozen incidents of violence against these places of worship since 2006.

In one recent incident, two black churches in Jackson, Mississippi – Greater Bethlehem Temple Church and Epiphany Church – were set on fire on the night of November 8, 2022. These fires and five others that occurred the same night were determined to be the work of an arsonist.