Almost Lost St. Patrick's Cathedral to Arson Yesterday

chevyontheriver

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A guy walks in to St. Patrick's Cathedral with four gallons of gasoline, two containers of lighter fluid, and two lighters.

But because of the fire at Notre Dame there is an increased security presence at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. So they detain the guy. He says he is carrying the gas through the Cathedral as a shortcut to get to his car which ran out of gas. Turns out his car had plenty of gas. He is now enjoying the hospitality of the NYPD.

Not a surprise that there are copycat arsonists around. This guy is a strange bird though, and is apparently well known to police already.

In a normal week nobody would have noticed until the fire was already started. I suspect he would have succeeded.

Man Arrested Entering St. Patrick’s Cathedral with Gasoline
 

Basil the Great

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What is it with people seeing tragedies on TV and deciding to copy it? Weird.
Yes, my first thought was that someone was no doubt inspired to have another cathedral burn or essentially an attempt to copy the Paris fire.
 
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chevyontheriver

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Yes, my first thought was that someone was no doubt inspired to have another cathedral burn or essentially an attempt to copy the Paris fire.
Just as Henry VIII, the world's most famous arsonist, burned many a monastery and cathedral and church in his day, there have been dozens and dozens of church fires in France. I would say that at the moment no church, Catholic or otherwise, cathedral or tiny parish, anywhere in the world, is safe. The rise of the Nones, the rise of Islam, the crazy people walking around, all suggest to me that we would all do well to be watchful from here on in.
 
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Michie

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Christianity is seen as all the ills of the world by many.
Just as Henry VIII, the world's most famous arsonist, burned many a monastery and cathedral and church in his day, there have been dozens and dozens of church fires in France. I would say that at the moment no church, Catholic or otherwise, cathedral or tiny parish, anywhere in the world, is safe. The rise of the Nones, the rise of Islam, the crazy people walking around, all suggest to me that we would all do well to be watchful from here on in.
 
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thecolorsblend

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chevyontheriver

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Probably because he had some delusions of burning St. Peter's too.

Oh, he was arrested in a church in New Jersey just a few days before. He said he wanted to pray. They said they needed to lock up. I suspect he had a plan for something there too. They let him go after charging him with trespass.

I think we will learn that he was a real fruitcake. But that isn't the only motivator for burning down a church. There's racism, religious hatred of other religions, secular hatred of religion, whatever. I suspect we will see a lot more of it in months to come. But this poor fruitcake needs to be in a place where he can do no harm to himself or others.
 
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chevyontheriver

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Do the police know if that guy was in France when the fire happened at the Cathedral of Notre Dame?
He was in trouble with the police in NJ about the time the Paris thing happened. Unless he is quite the jet setter I doubt he could have done Notre Dame AND gotten a ticket for trespassing in a New Jersey church. But maybe we could suppose an international conspiracy.

Realistically, this guy is a Catholic educated person who did some kind of music ministry at a Catholic church and is a continuing philosophy student and adjunct philosophy professor here and there who is righting a book of some sort. Probably a manifesto. His dad called him brilliant, saying you can't understand what he is saying he is so brilliant. When he is finally arraigned, probably Monday morning, I'll bet it will be quite the story. Not a flattering one for the Church either. I suspect it will involve a lot of mental pathology too.
 
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LivingWordUnity

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He was in trouble with the police in NJ about the time the Paris thing happened. Unless he is quite the jet setter I doubt he could have done Notre Dame AND gotten a ticket for trespassing in a New Jersey church.
They said he was about to get on a jet to Europe. So I wonder if he was going back.
 
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chevyontheriver

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They said he was about to get on a jet to Europe. So I wonder if he was going back.
I think he was going to Rome to burn down St. Peter's. His tickets were for Rome, apparently one way.
 
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chevyontheriver

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So I want to know if he went to Europe on another flight before that.
Ah, I see.

According to heavy.com he was arrested in New Jersey on April 15th. It is perhaps possible that he started the fire in Paris Monday morning, got on a flight home, and went to 'pray about it' (or burn down another cathedral) at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark. I suppose it is hypothetically possible. I think it is more likely he hatched his arson plan for NYC (and Rome) right after the Notre Dame fire made the news.

From the heavy.com site:
According to WABC-TV, Lamparello was arrested Monday, April 15, at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark. He sat in the church for about an hour and would not leave when he was told it was closing. The Essex County Sheriff’s Office responded, but he still refused to leave, telling officers he wanted to pray. He was then arrested and charged with resisting arrest, trespass and disorderly conduct, the news station reports.

Now I'm thinking if the Paris fire really was arson that the authorities don't want to make that known. Which makes me suspicious. Either it was accidental, and they will say so, OR it was arson and they won't want to say. What do we do with that conundrum?
 
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Markie Boy

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I agree - the world is crazy. And what bothers me more than the rise of atheism, the Nones, or even Islam - is the lack of good shepherds for Catholicism.
 
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