All posts tagged "Church"

Firefighters in Dallas responded on Friday to a massive blaze at the First Dallas Baptist Church, the megachurch associated with pro-Trump pastor Robert Jeffress.

According to The Dallas Morning News, the fire originated from the historic secondary chapel. 40 units were summoned to respond to the fire, which is large enough to be visible from all over the city.

Per the report, "while Dallas Fire-Rescue first classified the fire as a second-alarm fire, they upgraded it to a third-alarm at 7:25 p.m. This means that the fire calls for a larger response including four fire engines, three trucks and two rescues ... The fire has appeared to worsen since first responders were called around 6 p.m. Dark gray smoke continues to fill the sky above the chapel and church. The building erupted into flames around 7:30 p.m." ...

A DC judge has ordered a group of Proud Boys members to pay over $1 million for their role in destroying property belonging to a well-known, majority-Black, Washington, D.C., church in 2020, CNN reports.

This comes after, in May, District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Lt. Shane Lamond was indicted on four federal criminal charges, after DOJ prosecutors alleged "that Lamond shared police information with" Proud Boys member Enrique Tarrio "and tipped him off about the case against him: the one in which he was arrested for his part in burning a Black Lives Matter sign that had been stolen from" the DC-based Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Judge Neal E. Kravitz's decision also comes nearly two months after Tarrio and fellow member, Joseph R. Biggs, were included in the group of five men found guilty of seditious conspiracy by a DC jury for their participation in attempting to overturn the 2020 election.
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A former Michigan priest has pleaded guilty to molesting a five-year-old boy in 1987, after officiating a funeral for the boy's family, reported The Daily Beast on Thursday.

"The accusation against Vincent DeLorenzo, 84, was one of eight complaints against him, and stemmed from a case brought in 2018 to the Diocese of Lansing, where he served from 1965 to 2002," reported A.J. McDougall. "He pleaded to a lesser charge in a settlement with the state that saw prosecutors throw out a separate case of sexual assault against another 5-year-old boy between 1995 and 2000."

According to the report, DeLorenzo has pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted criminal sexual conduct, and will register as a sex offender and serve five years of probation. Victims testified against DeLorenzo about three years ago....

PALM DESERT, Calif (Reuters) - Former first lady Betty Ford was remembered on Tuesday for her activism and pioneering work for addicts at a memorial service in California that drew leading political lights of the past four decades.

CAIRO — Dozens of Egyptians protested on Thursday to demand the introduction of civil marriages, in order to be able to divorce or remarry.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's public prosecutor said it had referred 48 Muslims and Christians to criminal court on Saturday for their roles in sectarian violence that led to the burning of a church in the Cairo district of Imbaba on May 7.