Wasilla Bible Church Arson Cold Case, Part II

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Part II of Suzanne Eovaldi's remembrance of the arson attack on the Wasilla Bible Church is up at The Collins Report (We posted Friday about Part I here).

Excerpts from Part II:

The forgiving nature of Palin and the church’s pastor cries out for honor from a most dismissive mainstream media, a media that seemed satisfied to report this horrible event merely once if at all.

[...]

I am hard pressed to understand reporters who seem satisfied with yes, telling the public of a fire, yet no, not telling of the heinous details surrounding this horror. Can you imagine such reporters ignoring this fire had the name of the church been Trinity United Church of Christ and the pastor’s name having been Reverend Jeremiah Wright?

Read Parts I and II unabridged here.

Do more than always remember. Don't let them forget.

- JP

Wasilla Bible Church Arson Still A Cold Case

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A reminder from Suzanne Eovaldi at The Collins Report -- It's been well over a year since the church Sarah Palin and her family attend in Wasilla, Alaska was torched, and not only has the crime not been solved, but investigators appear to have few, if any, good leads. And there's been precious little outrage on the Left over this unpunished hate crime:

Wasilla Mayor Verne Rupright still insists, “It had nothing to do with Sarah Palin.” He discounts connection to a “homosexual healing conference” the church co-sponsored, but he admitted a state arson investigation has hit only dead end and is not working on any other leads. The heinous fire crime at the Christian Bible Church languishes in the cold case file. 

Wasilla PD investigator Ruth Josten didn’t return several calls. Last January the Collins Report posted an exclusive interview with WBC elder Tom Ryan that exposed many horrible facts still being ignored. The Report’s editor, a retired NYPD officer determined early on this crime was much more than simple arson, but instead was a six count attempted murder 1, apparently committed by an outside hired assassin.

These facts are still being ignored: 1. wires for phones, fire alarms, and water systems were slashed from INSIDE the building, near the control room 2. fire accelerant was spread across each church exit to prohibit escape of the five women and one teen girl trapped inside.

The attempt to prevent those inside the church from escaping failed, by the grace of God.

- JP

Anniversary of Shame

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It was one year ago, on December 12, 2008, that the Church Sarah Palin's family attends was torched:

WASILLA -- Whoever torched Gov. Sarah Palin's home church tried to start fires in several places around the building, the federal agency assisting in the investigation said Monday.

Accelerants were found in multiple locations on the outside of Wasilla Bible Church, including around entrances and exits, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The fire was responsible for an estimated $1 million in damage to the building and endangered the lives of the five church members who were inside when the building was torched. Fortunately, the arsonists fire alarm was still working and warned those inside, and they were able to get out safely.

This one year anniversary is one of shame. It is always shameful when someone harbors such hate that they would try to burn down a house of God. But it's doubly shameful that authorities from the federal level on down don't even have a suspect in the case:

The Wasilla Police Department is leading the ongoing investigation, but none of the leads they've chased so far have ended up panning out.

"The investigation is still open, and we're still asking the public to contact us if anybody has heard anything," Deputy Chief Greg Wood said.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the state fire marshal's office both assisted in the initial investigation, and the state crime laboratory collected evidence at the scene.

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"We don't have any new leads right now, but we're still looking," Wood said.

The reluctance of the lamestream media to report on the arson is shameful also. It is to the credit of The Alaska Dispatch -- not Palin-friendly by any means -- that it published an update on the unsolved crime earlier this month.

But we're reminded of Glenn Beck's observations shortly after the fire:

Do you think it would lead the news if Barack Obama's old church had been burned down, the church of Jeremiah Wright? Do you think that would have led the news? A man who's already blaming the government for creating AIDS to kill African-Americans, imagine what he would be saying into any camera that would tape him. Not only would the media suddenly find a way to make a front page story in every single paper, this would squarely be blamed on "hateful" people like Sarah Palin, not to mention there would be calls to get rid of talk radio already today.

The most disturbing thing about the arson, however, is that the person or persons who are responsible are still on the loose and probably emboldened because they got away with their hate crime scot-free. What will they try next?

- JP

The hate crime that wasn't worth solving

On September 13 we marked the nine-month anniversary of an unsolved hate crime:

A New York Times story from September of 2008 which said that the Wasilla Bible Church had "come under fire" turned out be frighteningly prophetic, as less than a hundred days after the Times story was published, the church was torched in what was likely a hate crime now mostly forgotten.

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Whatever assistance ATF has provided to the task force hasn't helped bring the perp or perps to justice. It is now nine months since the crime, and no arrests have been made.  Who cares? It's not like Obama's church was burned or anything. If, God forbid, that had happened, the lowlife responsible would have already served most of the first year of a long, long sentence.

We're not the only voices shouting in the wilderness on the shameful lack of progress in the investigation. Our friend Mode Lane at RedState.com noted this morning that it has now been ten months since the church the Palin family attends was torched:

Somebody attempted to murder several women and children via arson, and it’s becoming depressingly clear that that person (or persons) has gotten away with it clean.

This offends me. It should offend you.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has an office in Alaska:

222 W 7th Ave # 39
Anchorage, AK 99513-7597
(907) 271-5701‎

- JP

Quote of the Day (July 6, 2009)

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At RedState.com, Moe Lane reminds us:

"Seven months since the Wasilla Church Burning and no arrests, no updates, and no real indication that the federal government is taking seriously an organized attempt to murder mothers and children by setting their church on fire."

- JP

Why did media ignore Wasilla Bible Church arson?

From The Examiner's Dave Gibson:

Given the fact that a church was attacked close to Christmas would seem to be newsworthy enough, but considering the fact that the church attended by Gov. Palin was set fire in such a manner as to kill those inside at the time should have warranted heavy media coverage. However, the only network which devoted any time to the story was Fox News.

A quick internet search on the church fire will yield some coverage on a few obscure websites, but beyond Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren’s coverage which lasted only a few days, there was no major media attention given to the crime.

Gibson goes on to give several reasons why he believes that the drive-by media paid relatively little attention to the hate crime. Some of them we find more plausible than others. But speculation on the reasons behind the church torching in Alaska is just that -- speculation.

In our opinion what is far more important is just the fact that the media, after some scattered intial reporting of the fire, has completely ignored the matter. As Gibson points out, had this been Obama's church, the media would have moved heaven and earth to try to help the authorities identify the culprit or culprits. Substantial cash rewards would have been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any perps. The story would have stayed at the top of the news until the case had been solved and the judicial system convicted and decreed punishment.

But because this is the church that Gov. Sarah Palin attends when she is in Wasilla, the media couldn't care less about it. Their indifference to the crime has deprived authorities of possible clues from the public for their investigation. So the case still remains unsolved on this, the six month anniversary of the night arsonist(s) poured gasoline around every exit and ignited it.

- JP

Deliver us from evil

June 11, 2009 will mark the six month anniversary of the arson attack on the Wasilla Bible Church. On a cold December night, while a group of women met inside the building, their children with them, a person or persons unknown poured gasoline around all of the entrances and exits and ignited the accelerant. By the grace of God, all inside the building were able to get out safely. But still no arrests have been made.

The torching of the church Gov. Palin attends when she's home in Wasilla is just one of a growing number of crimes committed at houses of worship, and sometimes it seems as if no one is doing anything about it. The authorities, however, are still investigating the Alaska church burning. Others are taking a more proactive approach.

Seeing the need for a new type of security service, entrepreneurs are creating a niche market for church security enterprises. One such firm is Christian Security Network, which quotes an excerpt from the Book of Proverbs (22:3) on its website:

"... foresee danger and plan ahead..."

Jeff Hawkins, who founded the firm, is its CEO, and he believes that the Wasilla Church arson was politically motivated, "It's too coincidental to have that church targeted," he says.

CSN offers seminars, a handbook, and in-person risk assessments. With a background in policing and government security, Hawkins was doing security for a Christian ministry a few years ago, and kept getting "more and more and more requests for speaking engagements and seminars. There was no resource for the Christian community to go to to learn about security and safety."

The common reaction, I suppose, to a story like this one is that it is a really sad and disgusting thing that such security services are even needed by churches and synagogues. It's just a sign of the times. Although church shootings and fires grab the headlines, Hawkins works with his clients to develop security plans to deal with situations which are far more likely to impact a house of worship such as robbery, misdemeanor vandalism or a natural disaster.

The field is expanding at a time when a slumping economy is shedding jobs by the tens of thousands. Dale Annis' firm, Church Security Services, is based in Bakersfield, California and serves churches on the West Coast. If you have a security background, know your way around a church house and want to go into business for yourself, here's a wide-open field.

If you're a pastor, deacon or a member of your church's vestry, ensuring the security of your house of worship is something for you to seriously consider. The Lord's Prayer asks that we be delivered from evil, and the Holy Bible teaches us that God helps the helpless. Although Benjamin Franklin is often described as a deist, he actually believed in God’s active Providence in human affairs. And to the great majority who are not helpless, he wrote in Poor Richard's Almanac, "God helps those who help themselves."

- JP

162 Days

162 days have passed since one or more arsonists torched the Wasilla Bible Church, where Alaska Governor Sarah Palin attends when she's not in Juneau. There were women and children inside when some person or persons set fire to the gasoline they had poured in various locations around the building, including the entrances and exits.

Even though the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is part of a task force with local and state authorities which is investigating the crime, no arrests have been made.

The last we heard of the investigation was in a news story in the Anchorage Daily News April 7th, in which Wasilla police investigator Ruth Josten was quoted as saying, "Time will be on our side."

Will it?

- JP

Bible Church arson investigators still on the case

Last week I asked if anyone connected with the investigation into the torching of the church that Gov. Palin attends when she's home in Wasilla, AK still cares. After all, over 100 days had lapsed since the hate crime, and no progress in the case had been reported.

Zaz Hollander of the Alaska Daily News must have had similar thoughts, because just six days later this story appeared in that newspaper. There's been no progress to report, but at least the authorities are still on the case:

Wasilla police investigator Ruth Josten said she is working on the case with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The federal agency is testing gasoline found at several places around the church for any specific additives, Josten said. She's also following any tips, though she wouldn't say how many have come in or how recently.

Josten is confident that a break in the case will eventually come:

"Time will be on our side," she said. "You have to be willing to set a case aside, do some work on it, take in everything that anybody calls you with. An overheard conversation -- sometimes it's that minor of a situation."

- JP