Louisiana man pleads guilty to burning churches for black metal clout

The churches had predominantly African American congregations

Holden Matthews (Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal)

A Louisiana man burnt churches to promote his Black Metal brand according to reports from local law enforcement.

Holden Matthews, 22, pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act. He set three churches on fire in the Opelousas, Louisiana area over the course of 10 days in late March 2019.

The churches targeted were Greater Union Baptist Church, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and St Mary Baptist Church.

They had predominantly African American congregations.

Hate crimes are among the charges Matthews pleaded guilty to, but authorities have not revealed whether or not race explicitly played into his actions.

Matthews said he torched the churches to pay homage to black metal-associated church arsons in Norway in the 1990s. Varg Vikernes, of the black metal band Mayhem, became infamous for his church arsons and, later, a murder, during that time period.

Vikernes, who was released from prison in 2009 after serving time for the murder of his band-mate, Euronymous, has a history of having neo-Nazi and white supremacist views.

Matthews, the son of a local sheriff’s deputy, bragged about the arsons in a video posted to Facebook. He said his intention was to raise his profile in the Black Metal community. He was a member of the band Vodka Vultures.

Dustin Charles Talbot, Matthews's lawyer, told the New York Times that his client only had the reasoning capacities of an adolescent and that he was not motivated by racial means.

“Holden now fully understands the seriousness and gravity of his actions and is deeply remorseful for what he has done and the pain he has caused the congregations of these churches,” Mr Talbot said.

FBI Special Agent Bryan Vorndran condemned Matthews’s crimes, saying: “His atrocious actions inflicted severe pain and grief upon these congregations, as well as all of St Landry Parish.”

Matthews could face betweem 10 and 70 years in prison.