Man admits to setting fires at predominantly Black church in Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE, RI — A Rhode Island man has admitted to using gasoline to set several fires around the exterior of a predominantly black church earlier this year, according to a federal plea deal.

Prosecutors said Kevin Colantonio started several fires around the exterior of the Shiloh Gospel Temple early Feb. 11 in North Providence after purchasing a lighter and gasoline.

The building was vacant at the time and the fires were quickly extinguished by members of the North Providence Police and Fire Department, investigators said. The fires caused material damage.

An attorney representing Colantonio did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Without the quick action of first responders who arrived at the church around 12:12 p.m. after reports of a person trying to start a fire, the damage to the house of worship would have been catastrophic, investigators said at the time.

Zachary Cunha, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, said at the time Colantonio’s arrest that a search of his home turned up notebooks and writings containing phrases such as “burning down churches,” “going on hunts,” and “shooting anyone who isn’t white.”

The plea agreement, filed last week in federal court, states that Colantonio intentionally targeted the church because of the “actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin and/or ethnicity of its congregants.”

According to researchers, most of the Pentecostal community, which has been around for about 35 years, is black and African American.

There were no injuries.

Colantonio faces four charges: obstruction of the free exercise of religious beliefs; malicious damage by fire; and two counts of assault on a federal officer.

If served consecutively, Colantonio faces 56 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, a $1 million fine and three years of supervised release.

A plea change hearing is scheduled for Jan. 7.