Throughout his sentencing, a convicted arsonist advised a federal court docket that he deliberately set fireplace to 4 completely different church buildings in 2019 as a consequence of their "non secular character."

Alan Douglas Fox, 29, of Nashville, Tennessee, was sentenced to seven years behind bars on Wednesday after beforehand pleading responsible on all counts associated to the arsons. Fox was charged with the crimes final August, a assertion from the U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) mentioned.

Fox was sentenced to an extra three years of supervised launch. He initially confronted as much as 20 years in jail for every fireplace.

Details about the fires was allegedly obtained by court docket paperwork, in addition to through the plea settlement throughout which Fox admitted to the crimes.

Throughout the slate of assaults, Fox deliberately set ablaze 4 Nashville-area church buildings unfold out over a 10-mile space: The Crievewood United Methodist Church, the Crievewood Baptist Church, the Saint Ignatius of Antioch Catholic Church and the Priest Lake Group Baptist Church. All arsons came about inside a 10-day interval in June 2019, in accordance to the DOJ.

Lit Match
A Nashville, Tennessee, man was sentenced to seven years in jail for setting fireplace to 4 separate church buildings in 2019. The arsons had been carried out, the person acknowledged, as a result of he had a common dislike of faith. iStock/Getty

Along with utilizing fireplace, Fox additionally confronted costs for utilizing a firearm throughout one of many assaults. This included the usage of a handgun through the blaze on the Crievewood Baptist Church, which Fox used to interrupt into the home of worship and "facilitate the arson."

Not one of the church buildings burned fully to the bottom through the assaults; nonetheless, all sustained what the DOJ described as "important injury."

Throughout the proceedings, Fox admitted that he lit the buildings on fireplace as a consequence of "the non secular character of the 4 church buildings," in line with court docket paperwork. He reportedly added that he was not prejudiced in opposition to anyone faith, however simply hated faith on the whole.

An investigation into the arsons was carried out by the the Metropolitan Nashville Police Division and the Nashville Hearth Division. These businesses had been additionally assisted within the investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Tennessee state authorities.

"This defendant has now been held accountable for his harmful arson spree that brought on injury to a Catholic church, a Methodist church and two Baptist church buildings, all pillars of the Nashville neighborhood," mentioned Assistant Legal professional Normal Kristen Clarke of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, which led the prosecuting group. "Assaults on homes of worship are assaults on folks of religion that undermine the elemental proper to apply one's faith free from concern or violence."

"The Civil Rights Division will proceed to vigorously implement federal legal guidelines that defend all homes of worship, no matter denomination," Clarke added.

An worker with the Crievewood Baptist Church, who attended Fox's sentencing listening to, advised Newsweek, "We're praying for Alan and we're grateful for a simply final result within the case. We're hoping that he will get the assistance he wants in jail."

Newsweek has additionally reached out to the opposite three church buildings concerned within the fires for remark.