A Bronx church that was burned down appeared to have "signs of devil worship" scrawled across the walls (NY Daily News). Not only will the people responsible be charged with arson (Section 150-150.20), but when found, they will also be charged with a hate crime.
For the arson charge, it would depend on how the criminals started the fire.
The criminals may be able to get away with arson in the third degree, which is a class C felony, because they entered the building to vandalize. This crime would only result in a maximum of 15 years.
But the part that will double their sentences would be the fact that they attacked a church. If a crime is ruled as a hate crime, the sentence will usually double. So, the lesser charge of 15 years could become 30.
If they had just burned down the church, it would be harder to prove that it was a hate crime. For a hate crime, there has to be proof that the criminals chose the church because of their feelings towards Catholicism or Christianity. By writing the symbols of an opposing religion on the walls, they are demonstrating that their act of violence was fueled by a hatred for the religion.
Also, since the church was chosen so close to Christmas time, that is another indicator that this was not a random arson attack.
- Do you need a New York criminal defense attorney? (FindLaw)
- The Laws of New York (The New York Penal Code)
- Is Hate Necessary For Hate Crime? (FindLaw)
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