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{{short description|Historic black church burned down by the KKK in South Carolina}}
{{Use American English|date = December 2019}}
The '''Macedonia Baptist Church''' is a centuries-old historically black church located in rural [[Clarendon County, South Carolina]]. It was destroyed by arsonists following direction from the local [[Ku Klux Klan]] chapter known as the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and was later rebuilt afterwards. Four Klansmen were convicted for the crime, and a subsequent civil suit effectively closed the Klan chapter's operation in the county. The successful civil suit was called a "wake-up call" indicating that racial violence would not be tolerated.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/1997/February97/076cr.htm|title=#076: 02-20-97 - Two Klansmen Receive Lengthy Sentences for Burning Two South Carolina Churches|website=www.justice.gov|access-date=2016-07-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010082750/http://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/1997/February97/076cr.htm|archive-date=2015-10-10|dead-url=no|df=}}</ref>▼
{{Use mdy dates|date = December 2019}}
▲The '''Macedonia Baptist Church''' is a centuries-old historically black church located in rural [[Clarendon County, South Carolina|Clarendon County]], South Carolina. It was destroyed by arsonists following direction from the local [[Ku Klux Klan]] chapter known as the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and was later rebuilt afterwards. Four Klansmen were convicted for the crime, and a subsequent civil suit effectively closed the Klan chapter's operation in the county. The successful civil suit was called a "wake-up call" indicating that racial violence would not be tolerated.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/1997/February97/076cr.htm|title=#076: 02-20-97 - Two Klansmen Receive Lengthy Sentences for Burning Two South Carolina Churches|website=www.justice.gov|access-date=2016-07-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010082750/http://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/1997/February97/076cr.htm|archive-date=2015-10-10|
== Background ==
In 1994 the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (a South Carolina branch of the Ku Klux Klan) set up headquarters in a field near the church, proclaiming that black churches taught their congregations how to manipulate the [[welfare|welfare system]] and procure [[government subsidies]]. The church congregation could hear the Klan's sermons blaring from the building next door on megaphones.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.itvs.org/forgottenfires/story_a.html|title=Forgotten Fires - The Story
== Arson and investigation ==
On June 21, 1995, Timothy Adron Welch and Gary Christopher Cox of the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan poured gasoline on the floor of the Macedonian Baptist Church and set it on fire. The church was one of several rural black churches burned by arsonists in the mid-1990s. The crimes prompted president [[Bill Clinton]] to visit [[South Carolina]] in 1996 and pledge federal help in investigating the crimes.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=
Welch and Cox were apprehended in connection to a stabbing assault on a black man on June 16. The two were charged with assault and battery with intent to kill, first-degree [[arson]], and second-degree burglary of the [[Mount Zion AME Church (Greeleyville, South Carolina)|Mount Zion AME Church]] in [[Greeleyville, South Carolina|Greeleyville, SC]].<ref name=":6" />
== Trials ==
=== Criminal trial ===
Welch, Cox, and two older accomplices, Arthur Haley and Hubert Rowell were indicted on several charges of civil rights violations involving the burning of the Macedonian Baptist Church and other racially charged crimes. Haley and Rowell were also charged with burning a Hispanic migrant camp in [[Manning, SC]], burning a car of a black Manning resident, and [[Illegal possession of a firearm|illegally possessing firearms]]. The federal [[indictment]] said that Haley selected the Macedonian Baptist Church as the arson target and Rowell instructed Cox and Welch on how to set the fire.<ref>{{Cite
James E. Johnson and Isabelle Katz Pinzler, co-chairs of the [[National Church Arson Task Force]] commended the work of officials and investigators in the case. Rene Josey, [[U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina|U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina]], said "Today's sentences should serve as a wake-up call to those individuals who may consider the unlawful use of force and violence to intimidate persons based on their race and religious beliefs."<ref name=":8" />
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=== Civil suit ===
A subsequent civil case trial was held in 1998 with the charges that the Ku Klux Klan [[Hate speech|incited the crime]]. The case was brought to court by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]], represented by attorney [[Morris Dees]].<ref name=":0" /> The lawyer for the Klan insisted that the criminals acted alone in burning down the church. Defense attorney Gary White painted the Klan [[Grand Dragon]] Horace King as a feeble old man merely exercising his [[right to free speech]], saying King never authorized the arson. During the trial, the Church's lawyers showed racist Klan posters and literature and played a videotape for the jury showing King speaking at a Klan rally, saying "It's time, people, to wake up and shape up and say this is our country, white people, take it back." The Klan leaders insisted that they never encouraged anyone to break the law, but two of the sentenced arsonists testified against their case. Welch testified, "The church fire was Klan business, and we were told we would not go to jail. We were convinced we were untouchable."<ref name=":7">{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19980725&id=U91YAAAAIBAJ
The case was decided by nine black and three white jurors.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=http://articles.philly.com/1998-07-25/news/25737743_1_black-church-klan-organizations-morris-dees|title=Klan Ordered To Pay Black Church $37.8m
== Aftermath ==
On the day the verdict was read, Welch's younger brother Richard stated that he blamed the Klan for changing his brother. He said he was happy with the verdict
The civil suit forced the Klan to surrender the land on which its headquarters were built. When the property was sold, the deed included a restriction that the land never be used for white supremacist activities. The SPLC credits this judgement with reducing "one of the most active Klan groups in the nation to a defunct organization."<ref name=":1" />
After the suit,
The Macedonian Baptist Church was later fully rebuilt.<ref name=":3" />
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== See also ==
* [[List of attacks against African-American churches]]
* [[Charleston church shooting]], an infamous instance of an violent attack on a black church in which [[Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church]] in [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], South Carolina had nine congregants killed by [[Dylann Roof]] on June 17, 2015.
* [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing]], another infamous incident involving Ku Klux Klan members committing violence against the 16th Street Baptist Church in [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]], Alabama on September 15, 1963, resulting in four female African-Americans dead and
== References ==
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[[Category:Ku Klux Klan crimes]]
[[Category:1995 in South Carolina]]
[[Category:June 1995 events in the United States]]
[[Category:Attacks in 1995]]
[[Category:1995 fires in the United States]]
[[Category:Attacks on African-American churches]]
[[Category:Ku Klux Klan in South Carolina]]
[[Category:Church fires in the United States]]
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