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 "All of the fires remain under active investigation and federal
law enforcement continues to work to determine the cause of all of
the fires," Justice Department spokeswoman Melanie Newman said in a
statement. "To date the investigations have not revealed any
potential links between the fires."
The investigation into the fires follows the June 17 shootings at a
historic African American church in Charleston, South Carolina, in
which nine black people were killed and a white man linked to racist
views was charged in their deaths.
A federal law enforcement team including the FBI and the Justice
Department's civil rights division are investigating several church
fires across five states over the past two weeks, Newman said.
If evidence emerges to support hate crime charges in any of the
fires, the FBI, in coordination with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives and local authorities, will work closely
with the civil rights division and federal prosecutors "to bring
those forward," Newman said.
(Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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