Two Birmingham college students have been arrested and a third is being sought in the string of church arsons that destroyed or damaged nine rural churches in Alabama last month, federal law enforcement officials said Wednesday.UPDATE:
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details are under court seal and the formal announcement is to be made later, said the two are being charged with conspiracy and individual counts in the arsons at five Bibb County churches and four in west Alabama.
Arson investigators scheduled an afternoon news conference at the Tuscaloosa airport to discuss the arrests.
Federal law officers said the two arrested were students at Birmingham-Southern College, and the third person being sought was described as a student at another Birmingham school.
The two in custody were brought to the federal courthouse in Birmingham for their initial appearance before a federal magistrate.
All nine churches are Baptist and mostly located in isolated areas. The five in Bibb County, south of Birmingham, burned early Feb. 3. The four in west Alabama were found ablaze early Feb. 7.
A 10th rural Baptist church fire, in Lamar County, has been ruled arson but is not believed to be connected to the others. It was discovered on Feb. 11.
CNN has the identities of the two men:
They identified the two men as Ben Moseley and Russell Debusk. Both are college students in the Birmingham area, according to the office of Alabama Gov. Bob Riley.UPDATE:
A third person, identified as Matthew Lee Cloyd, is being sought, the sources added.
All three are now in custody. And there are now reports that this trio thought that it would be funny to torch churches. They thought it would be a joke- and people would get it.
Not funny. Not the excuse. Not the execution. Not the pain and suffering inflicted on the congregations affected. This trio will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and will probably find a lengthy jail sentence at the end of the day.
Ace has more.
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