Holden Matthews, 23, in February pleaded guilty to intentionally setting fire to the three African American Baptist churches over a 10-day period in March and April 2019, “because of the religious character of these buildings, in an effort to raise his profile as a ‘Black Metal’ musician,” the department said at the time.
Matthews was copying a Black Metal musician in Norway in the 1990s who set fire to churches, the department said.
Matthews must pay $590,246 to St. Mary Baptist Church, $970,213.30 to Greater Union and $1.1 million to Mt. Pleasant, a DOJ statement said Monday. He will have three years of supervised release.
CNN reached out to an attorney for Matthews.
The fires destroyed all three churches in Landry Parish.
“These churches trace their origins to the post-Civil War Reconstruction period and, for generations, were a place for predominantly African American Christians to…
