CUTTING OFF THE RUMOR MILL – AT 11:52 A.M. ET:  Some of the usual suspects are trying to stir up stories of the burning of black churches in the South.  There have, of course, been arson incidents involving black churches, but a "burning" scare some years ago turned out to be false.  Now, when a black church has a fire, the media seems to be more careful in reporting.  From CNN:

(CNN) Lightning, not arson, caused the fire that gutted a traditionally black church in South Carolina this week, federal and state investigators have concluded.

Tuesday's fire at Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greeleyville was caused by lightning, and there was "no criminal intent," the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Thursday on Twitter.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division concurred, releasing a statement Thursday saying that the fire is "best classified as natural" and that investigators found no indications of wrongdoing.

The Greeleyville fire drew attention because there have been fires at least five other black churches since the June 17 racist killings of nine people in a Charleston, South Carolina, church.

Senior FBI officials said as early as Wednesday that lightning might have caused the Greeleyville fire, citing heavy storms that were in the area when it started. They also said investigators at the scene found no accelerants, which would have been an indicator of arson.

A forensics report by CNN meteorologists showed four lightning strikes in the church's immediate vicinity at 7:18 p.m. ET Tuesday.

Tuesday's fire was the Greeleyville congregation's second devastating one in 20 years. Arson destroyed a previous Mount Zion AME church building in 1995.

Two white men who reportedly said they were members of the Ku Klux Klan pleaded guilty to starting the 1995 blaze and another at a separate black church. They were sentenced to serve prison sentences of almost two decades.

COMMENT:  We don't know what caused the fires at the other black churches recently, but we don't know of any clearly determined arson cases. 

July 3, 2015