BSC theater students Russ DeBusk and Ben Moseley are on the road to
stardom. Students may remember these actors from their excellent
performances in Extremities,
Young Zombies in Love and A Doll's House earlier this year.
They also appeared together in a documentary filmed at UAB. Now, this
semester, they're appearing together in their first full-length film.
However, the guys insist they're headed for bigger and better things.
"This is our crawling before we can walk," said Moseley of their work
in the past. "You're crawlin', I'm walkin'," said DeBusk in return, adding
that "I crawled in high school." The guys mean to say that they're on the
road to bigger and better things, perhaps moving to LosAngeles after
graduation to work in the movie industry.
For now, they are trying to do as much work as they can,where they can,
while they finish college here at Birmingham-Southern. They are both
sophomores, and by the end of their sophomore year, they will have
complete done movie per semester to go along with their coursework and
college theater productions-a pretty good rate of success so far.
In addition to their stellar performances in the school productions
last semester, DeBusk and Moseley worked with June Mack of UAB, whose
films have won 22 international awards in film festivals around the world.
Mack promises that the film will be shown nationwide, in colleges,
universities and possibly in high schools. Mack's work has shown in
Australia, Germany, Canada, Slovenia and New Zealand, so there are no
limits as to where this film could go. The film is a series of stories
epitomizing youth violence, appropriately named the "Youth Violence
Project."
The guys will admit that this film was mainly for experience and
connections. Moseley plays the main character and DeBusk plays the
character of Tommy Rolex, who they admit was somewhat of a "geeky thug."
For his character, Moseley says, "I had to snort baking soda!" He also got
to drive a Porsche. "It was definitely worth it," Moseley says, "because
it is going to benefit colleges and universities nationwide." As an added
bonus, they guys got some intensive work with a seasoned veteran of the
film industry under their belts. They also made some great professional
connections that they feel like are helping with their current film
project.
Their current project is one they hope will be shown at this year's
Sidewalk Film Festival, here in Birmingham, in September of 2006. They are
working with director Brian Wilson, a Birmingham resident and Samford
University graduate. They didn't have too much to say about the actual
plot of the movie, but they already claim to have a very good feel for
their characters.
DeBusk will play the lead role this time, a character by the name of
Davis. The title of the movie is Work, and the plot centers around
Davis's attempts to motivate his less ambitious friends, Cloyd and Murray.
The film is a series of flashbacks that spans from about the time of the
high school graduation of the three friends, and follows them until they
all actually begin their careers, which is not a quick process. Wilson
contacted DeBusk and Moseley himself, because he had heard about their
work in the theater department at Birmingham-Southern. They let Wilson
know right away that they were interested. They had a great interview, and
he selected them almost instantly from a group of several actors. The
characters whose roles they were selected to fill were perfect fits for
DeBusk and Moseley.
Moseley, who is a huge fan of Johnny Cash, will play Cloyd, an
obsessive character, who has a shrine erected to Cash in his bedroom. On
the day of Cash's death, Cloyd gets very drunk and mopes around, mourning
the loss of his hero. Throughout the film, he becomes very focused on one
thing for a couple weeks, then moves on to something else. Davis tries to
encourage him to select one thing to pursue as a career goal, but he
experiences problems keeping interest in one object of affection for very
long.
The third character, Murray, is someone that Moseley and DeBusk know
well from other projects, but they are not sure of many details of his
character. They believe that the real character development is the
responsibility of each actor individually; therefore, they are unsure of
exactly what the other actor has in mind.
The thing that really stands out about these two actors is their work
ethic,
The Hilltop News Arts and Entertainment
Wednesday, March 8, 2006which, ironically
enough, has a lot to do with the premise of the film. When asked what they
wanted to do after graduation, Moseley and DeBusk both answered, "The
exact opposite of what our characters are doing!" Both DeBusk and Moseley
feel that their determination is what sets them apart. DeBusk may
accompany Moseley to Los Angeles once they graduate, or he says he may
decide o stay behind here in Birmingham.
The Birmingham arts scene is growing quickly, and by the time of his
graduation, it may be something worth sticking around for. DeBusk's real
dream is to become a screenwriter and director. He wants to screen write,
direct and act all at once in the same film, something very few people
have ever done well. However, DeBusk's personal philosophy is that an
actor should act, then move on to directing, then screenwriting, only
after he has perfected his work in one area. Moseley says of DeBusk, "he
has the potential to do everything he wants to do. "This could be said of
both DeBusk and Moseley. After they are finished here at BSC, they may
truly be on the road to stardom.
We asked Dr. Frankie
Preston his thoughts on the cryptic messages.
"The drugs, the alcohol, suggests that they've probably
partied, they've probably exhausted the stimulus value of the
common, everyday night on the town," says Preston.
Though the messages hint at violent acts, many questions still
remain.
Preston adds, "There is
the suggestion that other illegal acts have preceded these
particular ones."
No Harsh Words for Suspects
Controlled media have formed a tight
security zone around the suspects -- refusing to divulge their ethnic or
religious backgrounds, while praising them as wonderful people and offering
explanations on their behalf. This has contributed to speculation about
the trio being homosexual.
Lemmings are told that the arsons were a "joke that went too far" where "no
racial pattern exists," and that "all were Baptist churches because that is the
dominant faith in the region," and that Birmingham-Southern College is
"Methodist-affiliated" -- hinting that the suspects are Christian.
An adoring Birmingham News went so far as to characterize DeBusk as "a wonderful
drama student, very enthusiastic, well behaved, talented, often the first to
settle an argument between friends, a peacemaker," etc.
The Birmingham News spin on Matthew Lee Cloyd included these words of praise:
"By all accounts, Matthew Lee Cloyd was a scholar - an intelligent boy with a
bright future in medicine, just like his father. He graduated... with honors and
several advanced placement courses under his belt. He was in the National Honor
Society and inducted into Mu Alpha Theta math society his junior year. He was
voted Most Outstanding Student in History and was a member of Students Against
Destructive Decisions." (Program aimed at keeping students from consuming
alcoholic beverages prior to driving, and discouraging the use of drugs.)
Today, the Associated Press issued a story in an apparent attempt to help the
suspects by offering an explanation for their alleged serial arson spree:
drinking and "warped bravado."
"Three college students suspected of a string of Alabama church fires may have
been out drinking when they began their spree. Throughout the month long
investigation, authorities said alcohol could have led to a warped bravado that
sparked the arsons, and initial interviews with the suspects bore out the
theory, according to one officer," stated the AP article.
This "drinking" story is running now, in hundreds of Jewish newspapers.
The paper USA Today has nothing negative to say about the crimes or the suspects
either, calling the three alleged serial arsonists "stars at school." The paper
merely laments that the crime spree "derailed promising futures." They go on to
describe the suspects in loving terms via interviews with friends and students,
as if they had been taken hostage in Iraq.
"Russ is just a goofy, fun-loving guy, almost like a cartoon character," said
Jeremy Burgess, 19, DeBusk's roommate. "He's always nice, respectful and
hardworking. He studied more than I did."
However, this tidbit is also revealed:
TERRY FRIEDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Well, we know that one of the arrest occurred in Birmingham, the second was
somewhere in Alabama, I'm not quite sure yet. But two sources are telling us
that these two suspects will be brought into federal court in Birmingham later
this morning and will appear before a U.S. magistrate for a first judicial
appearance.
The third suspect that they are still looking for is someone who they have
identified. They know who they're looking for, they just haven't found that
individual yet.
They're being quite tight-lipped about the details. They're kind of -- it sounds
like there's a tussle going on over when and where and how this announcement
actually is going to be made, whether it will be in Washington or whether it
will be in Birmingham and who all will be participating. And also, Daryn,
there's a question about who actually will prosecute, even though the ATF made
the arrest and the individuals are in federal custody, there's some question
that needs to be thrashed out about whether state or federal officials will
prosecute these people.
KAGAN: Terry, I know at a certain point
officials said they believed that the
individual or the people who were doing this had a message that they were trying
to get out and they set up an e-mail address, they put up a special post
office box hoping that the person or people would contact them. Do you know if
that led to a break in the case or if there was any other type of break?
FRIEDEN: From what little I've been able to glean, it does not sound like that
would be the reason that the arrests were made. The investigation has been quite
intensive for some time. Obviously, they are still looking for the third person
and so it would appear that there was probably some other reason that led to the
break in the case but we just don't know yet what that was.
sted: Jun 1 1996
LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE CHOOSES NEW PRESIDENT
Dr. G.
David Pollick
has been selected to be Lebanon Valley College's 16th president, replacing
John A. Synodinos, who will retire June 30.
Pollick,
who was one of 140 candidates for the presidency, was formerly co-chief executive officer and
president of the Art Institute of Chicago and The School of the Art Institute
of Chicago.
Pollick
was the first non-artist president of the Art Institute of Chicago. While he
was there, the institution balanced its budget for the first time in decades,
enrollments significantly increased, academic programming was expanded, three
new graduate programs were added, and the school promoted new community
linkages via workshops, conferences and scholarly and artistic partnerships.
For the past two years, the Institute has been named the number one graduate
school in fine arts by U.S. News & World Report. Under Pollick's
leadership, some $8 million was raised during a 12-month period as part of the
Art Institute's $55 million capital campaign.
Pollick
has also been acting president, as well as provost and vice president, of
Cortland College, a comprehensive liberal arts public institution within the
State University of New York system. While he was at Cortland, a new
admissions/marketing effort was implemented which resulted in a 10 percent
improvement in SAT scores in just two years and increased freshman minority
enrollment to its highest level in the school's history. He also helped
consolidate various separate international programs into a Center for
International Education and was instrumental in developing a Center for
Recreation, Outdoor Education and Environmental Education. In addition, he
helped reorganize computer and information systems, establish a new Honors
Center, and create a new Center for Lifelong Learning.
From 1984-89, Pollick
Washington, where he served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and
associate professor in the Department of Philosophy. During his tenure there,
he helped design and implement a new core curriculum, improve scholarly
productivity, and create a system which improved faculty salaries and the
sabbatical program. In addition, he assisted in raising $5.5 million for the
design and construction of a new Arts and Sciences College facility.
Pollick
has spent seven years at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota
where he was at various times director of the College Abroad program in the
Office of International Education, chair of the Department of Philosophy ,
chair of the Humanities Division and assistant professor of philosophy. In
addition, he was lecturer in philosophy at both the University of Ottawa,
Canada,
and the University of San Diego in California.
He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from
the University of Ottawa; a Ph.L. in philosophy from St. Paul's University in
Ottawa; an M.A. in philosophy from the University of Ottawa; and a B.A. in
philosophy from the University of San Diego in California. He is the author of
a variety of publications on aesthetics, philosophy and educational
management, and has attended the Institute for Educational Management at
Harvard University, the Snowmass Institute, and a number of other professional
development seminars.
Pollick
and his wife, Janice, are currently living in Lake Forest, Illinois where she
has been associate director of the Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce. She has an
art history background and worked closely with her husband at the Art
Institute of Chicago. The couple have two children. Their daughter Dayna, 19,
is a student at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. Their
son Landon, 17, is a junior at Lake Forest High School.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.
(RNS)—
The three college students accused of setting fire to nine Alabama
churches left a computer chat room trail that was a window into their
personalities.
Within hours after
Ben Moseley, 19; Russell DeBusk, 19; and Matthew Cloyd, 20, were arrested
March 8 on arson charges, reporters were mining their personal postings on
the
Facebook website.
All three had registered
for the site when they were Birmingham-Southern College students; Cloyd
later transferred to the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
The students didn’t talk
directly about the fires, but they bragged about excessive drinking and partying
in messages rife with obscene language.
In one of the few posts not full of obscenity,
Cloyd wrote Nov. 28: “Moseley/Monday night/Case of
Beer/Powerful Rifle/Lots of Ammo/Green 4Runner/2 complete idiots/1 pack of camel
lights/0 law enforcement officers/33 dead innocent whitetailed deer/insanely
high speeds.”
The postings illustrate how many students inhabit a cyberspace world in which
peers celebrate wild antics under the illusion they are anonymous and isolated,
possibly endangering their futures.
“That’s a bizarre phenomenon,” UAB President
David Pollick said. “It seems to
be giving people a license in words and deeds. It gives one a sense of
anonymity, of isolation. That’s an illusion. They do that without regard that
they’re creating a living vitae for themselves. They wrote their own letter of
reference.”
“A lot of kids don’t understand that anybody who wants to—police, parents,
employers—can see what they’re writing,” said attorney Parry Aftab,
executive director of the nonprofit WiredSafety.org, which offers tips on
Internet safety.
Personal pages, even old postings kept in archives, can be used in
background checks when teenagers apply for colleges and scholarships, or
when students leave college and apply for jobs,Aftab noted. Some firms hired to run background checks on applicants already
use them. School administrators monitor them.
Police can find evidence of
crimes.
“We now havelaw
enforcement who are using Facebook postings to prosecute students,” Aftab
said.
“Schools have prevented kids from enrolling or expelled students because of
postings. It can prevent them from getting jobs because of their postings.
“You are dealing with kids in college who are bright enough to know the
difference, but they don’t get it,” Aftab said. “If they are in a computer room
typing things in with their friends, they think those are the only kids who are
going to see it. It’s open to tens of millions of people.”
In theory, Facebook users from one college cannot view users from another
college unless they are linked as friends and have a valid college e-mail
address to sign up. But people often steal or borrow what they need to get
online.
“Anybody can get on there,” Aftab said. “It’s not as hard as they think. It
doesn’t take much.”
Social networking websites such as MySpace, Xanga, Bebo, Friendster, LiveJournal
and Facebook allow individuals to chat and design their own profile pages with
photo galleries, graphics, sound and video clips, profiles and journal entries.
They are popular with students but also attract many adults—including sexual
predators.
Dan Bowman, a counselor for Personal Relationships Inc. who has led seminars on
Internet safety at churches, said most parents he counsels are shocked when they
see their kids’ profiles on Facebook.
“I’ve had parents cry, reading that their kids had sex or did drugs,” Bowman
said. “It’s like a competition to see how wild they are. They feel comfortable
saying provocative things. It provides a forum for deviant behavior.”
Facebook, founded in 2004, is based in Palo Alto, Calif., and has several
million registered college student users. Faculty and alumni of schools can
register, and it has recently expanded to high schools. For college sites, a
school e-mail address is required to join and to post interests, background,
contact information and pictures.
“Facebook’s pretty good at policing their site, but it’s almost impossible when
you’ve got millions of students,” said Aftab, who has worked with Facebook and
other websites on security issues.
Birmingham Southern
University President
Pollick said he’s
troubled by the cyberspace culture that seems to obsess the current
generation of college students.
“It’s mind-boggling,” Pollick said. “This is part of the climate in which
we educate.”
Behavior glamorized on the website may have
created such an approving atmosphere of risk-taking and prank-pulling that
it could promote not only uncivil but illegal acts, Pollick suggested.
“What is it that would make somebody think that would be acceptable
behavior?” Pollick said of torching rural churches.
“You look
at their families, their life patterns, there would be nothing to indicate this
type of action, this type of blindness.
The parents are sitting there wondering how
this could happen.”
Some say the cyberchats betray a
glimpse of students wallowing in a moral quagmire.
“Knowing young people, one thing led to another, it totally went overboard, way
beyond any sense of moral responsibility,” said Duane Schliep, pastor of
Rehobeth Baptist Church in Bibb County, which was burned to the ground Feb. 3.
“Students today have created a gray world between what is clearly wrong and
clearly right,” Pollick said. “How does that become rampant burning of churches?
I don’t have an answer for that. I don’t think anybody does. We are recognizing
our own limitations.”
Greg Garrison writes for The Birmingham News in Birmingham, Ala.
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among
Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and
around the world.
Birmingham Southern is a school
for the very elite and normally only people with money will be admitted to
this school. Jews are not the only wealth people in Alabama but added to
this is where these fellas
lived ... their homes were in a very secluded area of Brimingham
and mostly Jews lived there.
Jews in the South commonly profess to be Methodists or Episcopalian
outwardly in many instances but remain true Jews in their private
practices.
Next is the sudden visit by DebrahLipstadt, a very noted
Jewish activists and Holocauster, to this college where these young men were
students, and the subsequent offer by the
university to help defray the cost of
rebuilding the burned churches.
Added to this is the almost total blackout of on-going information about the
progress of the investigations and/or trials and charges being given to these
suspects. One has to almost shut his eyes and wish away the prepondence of
circumstantial evidence surrounding this case, and once one has gotten his
Jewish radar working it is fairly easy to spot the difference in coverage or
lack of it, between a normal "red neck" Southerner being charged with a crime
and a member of the vaunted Jewish elite. Also the use of the sophiscated
incendary devices to ensure a hot fire makes one discount any scenaro by some
bored college boys who just happened to do a few stupid acts one night. Also
they are practically being protected by
the Feds against state prosecution ... the state and county officials
whose people suffered these arsons are more immune to the Jewish influence in
Washington and are willing to throw the book at them
What I find most amazing, though, is
that Birmingham-Southern is refusing to allow journalists on campus. One
would think that they would want to make known that this is NOT the type of
behavior they find acceptable in their students.
First and foremost, we must pay attention
Sunday, March 19, 2006
G. DAVID POLLICK
For 150 years, Birmingham-Southern College has
been dedicated to the highest and most noble purposes of our human
societies. It has prepared talented young men and women to assume their
rightful places around the globe as leaders of significant intellectual
and moral fiber with a commitment to advancing the dignity of others
throughout the world.
This was true in the 19th and 20th centuries -
and it is true today in the 21st century.
Yet, the differences between each of these
centuries are dramatic. And the events that surrounded the destruction
of nine Alabama churches further dramatize a significant and ironic
twist in the evolving nature of contemporary community.
By most measures, there is significant agreement that
many of the challenges of our time arise out of an inability to effectively
understand one another and appreciate the differing values that peoples of the
world hold. Our ignorance and lack of respect for one another's religious
beliefs have only heightened the distance between cultures. Political
differences, when defined by extreme positions staged with loud and uncivil
debate mirroring road-rage, seem to defy reasonable resolution. Business is
increasingly conducted via strangers in a strange land or through electronic
mediums without even the illusion of a human presence : "Press 1 if ... ;
Press 2 if ... ; Press 3 if ... ; or stay on the line ..." -and likely get
disconnected.
So apparent in our "brave new world" is an emerging
need for human contact. The problems that vex us the most are easily traceable
to the distance that separates people, the movement away from personal
relationships with all their messiness and all their discomfort. The more our
systems insulate us from one another, the easier it is to not see or feel the
impact of our actions on others; the easier it is to make others the objects
of our frustration and anger. It's easy to feel very little responsibility for
a disembodied voice, an electronic banking system with artificial humans, or
people who are caricatured and demonized as "other" and evil.
Isn't it ironic that at the very time when young
people are most in need of healthy social relations, when our societies are
more in need of mutual understanding gained through education and
communication, that a world of
cyberspace seductively counters with isolation, privacy, and a false and naive
illusion of invulnerability.
In such a world, a person's worst nature can emerge,
unfettered by social rules that govern and regulate day-to-day human
relations. This brave new world is characterized more by bravado than it is by
bravery. But as we've seen, this bravado is anything but insulated from ever
present reality.
Thoughts make actions.
Our two students, like literally
tens of thousands across our country, found their way into this cyberworld of
artificial relationships. They experimented with its distance and felt the
addiction and rush of the exotic play it offers. An explanation for behavior
gone out of control? Not likely. A significant contributing element? Probably.
A warning to others, young and old? Most assuredly. The line between fantasy
and reality can become very thin within the human mind. And there is no such
thing as a safe and secure environment in this new age of technology.
And where is the moral of the story?
First and foremost, we as
parents, schools, teachers and friends
need to pay close attention. Our collective
willingness to tolerate more and more in each generation can so easily slide
to the acceptance of behaviors that ought to be seen as simply over the line.
Second, with every human advance, technological or
otherwise, new possibilities and challenges emerge. We can not assume that all
good things will be used to good purpose.
Again, we must pay attention.
And, finally, when we've done what we can, we must
have the humility to recognize that we have done so. The simple truth is that
all human beings make mistakes - it's only the magnitude of the consequences
that sets these mistakes apart. G. David Pollick, Ph.D., is president of
Birmingham-Southern College. E-mail: pollick@bsc.edu.
Although tests show accelerants were used in the fires, Cavanaugh said they
were not used in large amounts.
"These guys aren't going in with gas cans," he said.
"This is down and dirty, fast and
furious, quick and mean, in and out. These guys are not lingering in there."
Authorities, he said, are still searching for a dark-colored sport utility
vehicle, possibly a Nissan Pathfinder, and two white men seen at some of the
other scenes.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA.
— A federal grand jury indicted three college students Wednesday on conspiracy
and arson charges related to nine church fires that plagued rural Alabama last
month.
Evidence indicates the fires started as a prank that got out of hand during
a night of drinking and illegal hunting in Bibb County, south of Birmingham.
Defense attorneys have said the fires that destroyed or damaged churches in
four rural counties over two days in early February were not crimes of hate.
Attorneys for Matthew Cloyd, 20, and Russell DeBusk Jr., 19, said they
anticipate discussions with prosecutors that could lead to guilty pleas.
Indictment of church fire suspects
MAR 29 2006 3:44PM
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR
THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA WESTERN DIVISION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
MATTHEW LEE CLOYD,
BENJAMIN NATHAN MOSELEY,
RUSSELL LEE DEBUSK
INDICTMENT
COUNT ONE: [18 V.S.C. 844(n))
The Grand Jury Charges:
From on or about the 2nd day of February 2006, and continuing to on or about the
7th day of February 2006, in Bibb" Pickens, Greene and Sumter Counties, in the
Northern District of Alabamal and elsewhere, the defendants,
MATTHEW LEE CLOYD, BENJAMIN NATHAN M0SELEY, RUSSELL LEE DEBUSK,
knowingly and willfully conspired and agreed together and with each other to
violate the provisions of Title 18, United States Code. Section 844(i), to-wit,
maliciously damage and destroy and attempt to damage and destroy by means of
fire, buildings Which were used in interstate and foreign commerce and in
activities affecting interstate and foreign commerce, resulting in personal
injury to persons as a direct and proximate result thereof.
It was part of the conspiracy that the
defendants would, during the nighttime hours, travel by automobile to rural
churches where the defendants did break into the following listed churches and
set them afire:
1. Rehobeth Baptist Church in Lawley, Bibb County, Alabama.
2. Ashby Baptist Church in Brierfield, Bibb County, Alabama,
3. Antioch Baptist Church in Centerville, Bibb County, Alabama,
4. Pleasant Sabine Baptist Church in Centerville, Bibb County, Alabama,
5. Old Union Baptist Church in Brierfield, Bibb County, Alabama,
6. .Dancy Baptist Church in Aliceville, Pickens County, Alabama,
7. Spring Valley Baptist Church in Gainesville, Sumter County, Alabama,
8. Galilee Baptist Church in Panola, Sumter County, Alabama,
9. Morningstar Baptist Church in Boligee, Greene County, Alabama,
in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 844(n).
COUNT TWO: (18 U.S.C. 844(i»)
The Grand Jury Charges:
On or about the 3rd day of Febrnary 2006. in Bibb County, within the
Northern District of Alabama, the defendants,
MATTHEW LEE CLOYD, BENJAMIN NATHAN MOSELEY, RUSSELL LEE DEBUSK,
maliciously damaged and destroyed and attempted to damage and destroy, by means
of fire, real property, that is, the building known as Rehobeth Baptist Church
located in Lawley, Alabama, which was used in interstate and foreign commerce
and in an . activity which affected interstate and foreign commerce in violation
of Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(i).
COUNT THREE: [18 U.S.C. 844(i)
The Grand July Charges:
On or about the 3rd, day of February, 2006, in Bibb County, within the Northern
District of Alabama, the defendants.
MATTHEW LEE CLOYD, BENJAMIN NATHAN MOSELEY, RUSSELL LEE DEBUSK,
maliciously damaged and destroyed and attempted to damage and destroy, by means
of fire, real property, that is, the building known as Ashby Baptist Church
located in Brierfield. Alabama, which was used in interstate and. foreign
commerce and in an activity which affected interstate and foreign commerce,
resulting in personal injury to persons as a direct and proximate result of said
fire, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(1).
COUNT FOUR: [18 V.S.C. 844(I)
The Grand Jury Charges:
on or about the 3rd day of February, 2006, in Bibb County, within the Northern
District of Alabama, the defendants,
MATTHEW LEE CLOYD, BENJAMIN NATHAN MOSELEY, RUSSELL LEE DEBUSK,
malicously darnaged and destroyed and attempted to damage and desttoy, by means
of fire, real property, that is, the building known as Antioch Baptist Church
located in CentervilJe, Alabatna, which was used in interstate and foreign
commerce and in an activity which affected interstate and foreign commerce, in
violation of Title 18, United States-Code, Section 844(i).
COUNT FIVE: (18 V.S.C. 844(i)
the Grand Jury Charges:
0n or about the 3rd day of February, 2006. in Bibb County, within the Northern
District of Alabama, the defendants,
MATTHEW LEE CLOYD, BENJAMIN NATHAN MOSELEY, RUSSELL LEE DEBUSK,
malicously damaged and destrbyed and attempted to damage and destroy, by means
of fire, real property, that is, the building known as Pleasant Sabine Baptist
Church located in Centerville, Alabama, which was used in interstate and foreign
commerce and in an activity which affected interstate and foreign Comoierce, in
violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(i).
COUNT.SIX: [18 V.S.C. 844(i)
The Grand Jury Charges:
On or about the 3rd day of February, 2006, in Bibb County, within the Northern
,District of Alabama, the defendants,
MATTHEW LEE CLOYD, BENJAMIN NATHAN MOSELEY, RUSSELL LEE DEBUSK,
maliciously damaged snd destroyed and attempted to damage and demoy, by means of
fire, real property, that is, the building known as Old Union Baptist Church
located in Brierfield. Alabama, which was used in interstate and foreign
commerce and in an activity which affected interstate and foreign cominerce, in
violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(i).
COUNT SEVEN: (18 V.S.C. 844(1)
The Grand Jury Charges:
On or about the 7th day of February, 2006, in Pickens County, within the
Northern Dimet of Alabama, the defendants,
MATTHEW LEE CLOYD, BENJAMIN NATHAN MOSELEY,
maliciously damaged and destroyed and attempted to damage and destroy, by means
of fire, real property, that is, the building known as Dancy Baptist Church
located in Aliceville, Alabama, which was used in interstate and foreign
commerce and in an activity which affected interstate and foreign commerce, in
violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(i).
COUNT EIGHT: [18 V.S:C. 844(i)]
The Grand Jury Charges;
On or about the 7th day of February, 2006, in Sumter County, within the Northern
District of Alabama, the defendants,
MATTHEW LEE CLOYD, BENJAMIN NATHAN MOSELEY,
maliciously damaged and destroyed and attempted to damage and destroy, by means
of fire, real property, that is, the building known as Spring Valley Baptist
Church located in Gainesville, Alabama, which was used in interstate and foreign
commerce and in an activity which affected interstate and foreign commerce, in
violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 844(i).
shapeType75pib0400000007010100030000000000 fBehindDocument1MAR 29 2006 3:44PM HP
LASERJET 3200
MAR.29.2BB6 2:36PM US ATTTORNEYS Office
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and in an activity which affected interstate and foreign commerce, in violation
of
Title 18, United StAte~ Code, Sectlon 844(i).
A TRUE BILL
Foreperson of the Grand Jury
ALICE H. Martin
United States Attorney
HERBERT R HENRY
As.ismnt W ~UOm
~ W. WHISONANT
Assistant Unittd States Attorney
Burning down rural churches as a whimsical joke is incomprehensible for many.
But as the shock subsides, friends have started to explain how far Matt Cloyd,
20; Ben Moseley, 19; and Russ DeBusk, 19, three Birmingham college students
arrested in connection with a string of rural church fires, would go for a
laugh.
Friends tell stories of the
young men shooting cows, spotlighting deer, filling dorm rooms with
hay or rats.
"Cloyd and Moseley had been stealing road signs and bashing in
mailboxes for the better part of a year," said Eddie Washington, a friend
of the three and classmate of Moseley and DeBusk at Birmingham-Southern
College. "Everyone has said that they were good boys, and, to be honest,
they were ... but they also had a major invincibility complex."
Cloyd's own postings on
FaceBook.com boasted of spotlighting deer and killing animals for a hobby,
and a friend wrote that Cloyd "has no fear of taking down coyotes with a
glock ... on the roof of his suv at 3 in the morning..."
Authorities said one of the three has said they shot a cow near the time of
the church arsons.
But no one has claimed to understand how that series of acts, even the more
offensive ones, might have led to the crimes the three are charged with
committing.
A federal grand jury is scheduled to meet Wednesday to consider the case.
Serial arsonists are rare, with most arsons involving individual property or
businesses based on economic hardship, said Paul M. Sharp, sociology professor
at Auburn University.
The friends were extremely close and could easily keep a secret among
themselves, said Amber Killingsworth, Cloyd's ex-girlfriend and a former
classmate at Oak Mountain High School. But they had many friends, she said.
From the Office
of Congressman Spencer Bachus
The 6th District of Alabama
A game warden's theory and
the sheriff's actions to protect evidence in the hours after a church arson
in rural Bibb County were key in leading investigators to three church fire
suspects.
Alabama Department of
Conservation Officer Ricky LeCroy was among the first to describe Alabama
church arsonists as out-of-towners on drunken joy rides.
Bibb County Sheriff Keith
Hannah protected tire tracks near one of the first fires that were used to
trace the sport utility vehicle agents say was driven to six of the fires.
LeCroy's theory was
believed proved right when three college students from Birmingham suburbs
were charged Wednesday in the February string of nine Baptist church fires.
"That was just a guess on
my part," said LeCroy. "Everybody was speculating, and that was mine."
U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus,
R-Vestavia Hills, said Thursday he attended a meeting the day of the fires
when LeCroy outlined his theory.
"Agents from Washington and
Nashville were coming in and he (LeCroy) said,
`I believe it's some of those spotlighters, some of those kids coming down
from Birmingham with those spotlights,'" Bachus said. "Here's a guy
that actually said, `That's who I think they ought to be looking for.'"
Bachus
said Hannah, sheriff in one of the state's smallest counties, showed
incredible expertise. "He protected those tracks with his deputies and got
on the phone with ATF within an hour of it happening," Bachus said. "He
didn't say, `I can handle this. I know everything.' He got on the phone and
said, `I need the state fire marshal, I need the ATF.'"
Matthew Lee Cloyd, 20, of Indian
Springs; Benjamin Nathan Moseley, 19, of Grayson Valley; and Russell Lee
DeBusk Jr., 19, of Hoover were arrested Wednesday in connection with
the fires set Feb. 3 and Feb. 7. Moseley and DeBusk attended
Birmingham-Southern College, until they were suspended and banned from the
campus hours after their arrest. Cloyd was a junior pre-med student at UAB,
but had transferred there from BSC.
All three are being held
without bond in the Shelby County Jail. They will appear in federal court
today at 3 p.m. where lawyers for at least two of them will ask that their
clients be freed on bond because they pose no flight risk or danger to
others.
Lawyers for DeBusk and
Cloyd described their clients as "somber" and said they had yet to realize
the degree of trouble they are in.
"He's 19 years old," said attorney
Brett Bloomston, who is representing DeBusk. "His world is upside
down."
`Season of evil':
Web postings linked to the
three - described as All-American
college boys - and their friends indicate at least some penchant for
partying, for drinking and hunting on the back roads of rural Bibb County.
Cloyd posted this on
Moseley's Web page Jan. 9 at www.facebook.com: "To my dearest friend
Moseley: The nights have grown long and the interstates of Alabama drunk
driverless, the state troopers bored, the county sheriffs less weary, and
the deer of Bibb County fearless. 2006 is here, it is time to reconvene the
season of evil!"
Investigators said
throughout the probe that heavy drinking could have fueled the arsonists,
and interviews with the suspects shortly after their arrests confirmed that
theory.
Birmingham-Southern College
Police Chief Randy Youngblood said federal agents interviewed Moseley and
DeBusk for hours beginning late Tuesday after they were escorted to the
campus police headquarters. It was about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, Youngblood
said, when agents emerged from the interview room and said the suspects had
confessed.
"We were told by official
sources ... that seemingly some
drinking, some night hunting was ultimately what led to all of this,"
Youngblood said.
In a statement about the
arrests, Birmingham-Southern President David Pollick said the social use of
alcohol "moves easily and too frequently to dangerous irresponsibility."
"Innocent and healthy
stages of interpersonal social encounters too frequently degrade to violent
and personal acts of violation," he said.
Tire tracks were key:
Federal, state and local
investigators combed through 1,000 leads, interviewed 1,500 people and
inspected 500 cars before they found their suspects. One lead - impressions
taken at the scene of six of the fires, said to be from BF Goodrich All
Terrain TA KO tires - led to a Pelham tire store.
Jim Collins, manager of the
tire store, said federal agents came to the business Tuesday shortly before
noon seeking assistance. He said agents had already determined the type of
tire and narrowed it to three sizes.
A search of the store's
records led investigators to Kimberly Cloyd, Cloyd's mother. She had
purchased four tires July 22, 2005, at Cahaba Tire in Pelham.
Agents contacted Kimberly
Cloyd and her husband, physician Michael Cloyd, in the late afternoon.
Matthew Lee Cloyd first denied being involved to his mother but said he knew
who did it, records show. When questioned by his father a short time later,
Matthew Lee Cloyd said he knew who did it and that he was there.
About 7:30 p.m. Tuesday,
federal agents contacted BSC police. By 8:30, campus police Chief Randy
Youngblood said, authorities were putting together a game plan to talk to
the students.
BSC students Moseley and
DeBusk lived in the same student residence hall and were taken into custody
around the same time, Youngblood said.
In federal hands:
The three are charged in
that two-count criminal complaint with conspiracy to damage and destroy
buildings by fire, and a count of maliciously damaging and destroying by
means of fire the Ashby Baptist Church in Brierfield.
The case is in federal
hands because it is against federal law to maliciously damage or destroy by
fire, or try to, any building used in interstate commerce, which involves
buying supplies outside the state of Alabama. In court records, Ashby
Baptist Church's pastor told investigators that his church purchases Sunday
school and other educational materials from an out-of-state vendor on a
quarterly basis.
Bloomston and Tommy Spina,
who represents Cloyd, asked the public to reserve judgment about the
suspects and allow the case to be prosecuted in the courtroom and not
through public speculation.
"This is not racially
motivated," Bloomston said. "It's not an anti-Christian motivation. It's not
an anti-family values. I think when things come to life these
were good kids and something bad happened."
Spina agreed. "Regardless
of the serious nature of the offenses, the offenders are kids," Spina said.
"That's not said to excuse them but merely to reminds us all that they are
kids like we once were without any criminal histories."
LeCroy said the trio may
face state charges because they
admitted to night hunting, which included shooting a cow on Feb. 3.
The three could also face additional federal charges.
LeCroy said night hunting
near some of the churches started to increase around Christmas.
"It seemed like it shifted
into high gear," he said. "It wasn't just one group - there were several
groups doing it."
Sometime in late fall, a cow was shot to death. Then, on the night of the
first set of fires, a second cow was shot. LeCroy said he had to examine the
dead cow but wasn't able to recover a bullet.
Shooting livestock was one
of the clues that people from outside the area were involved, Lecroy said.
"Most of the old time redneck hunters are just out to get them a deer. They
don't usually bother the livestock."
LeCroy said there may be
some outlaws among the locals, "but they were brought up not to mess with
churches. Their grandma would whip them."
News Washington
correspondent Mary Orndorff contributed to this report. com
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
The SPLC's double standard slip is showing
At the vanguard of both promulgating and enforcing bogus "hate crime"
laws, the SPLC looks the other way when any crime doesn't fit their narrow
and bigoted definition of "hate." Jeff Jacoby hits a homer regarding this
issue in today's Boston Globe:
I'm a regular recipient of some of the SPLC's e-newsletters. It
is always a good idea to learn what your enemy is up to. And I make
no bones about saying the SPLC is my enemy. Their vision of America,
were it ever realized, would make Katie's future a far less bright
and promising one.
I find it more than very interesting that the loons over at Morris
Dees' house of anti-Americanism can find the time and inclination to
whine on endlessly about anyone who wishes to follow the rule of law
about immigration but cannot bring themselves to utter one word of
concern about the Alabama church burnings. Instead, their
spokesperson jabbers the equivalent of Katie covering her ears while
chanting "I'm not list'ning, I'm not list'ning."
"''I don't
see any evidence that these fires are hate crimes,' Mark Potok, a
director of the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center, told the Los
Angeles Times. ''Anti-Christian crimes are exceedingly rare in the
South.'
But are
anti-Christian crimes really that rare? Or are they simply less
interesting to the left, which prefers to cast Christians as
victimizers, not victims?
A search of the SPLC's website, for example, turns up no references
to Jay Scott Ballinger, a self-described Satan worshiper deeply
hostile to Christianity, who was sentenced to life in prison for
burning 26 churches between 1994 and 1999. Yet if those weren't
''hate crimes,' what were they?"
Mark Potok
Don't get me wrong here. I think "hate crimes" laws are absurd, yet
it is quite obvious the SPLC would also impose "hate speech" and "hate
thought" laws upon us all if it could.
Since we do have the silly statutes on the books, isn't it reasonable to
expect that any group that helped put them there should not only be
consistent in its rhetoric, but also demand consistency in enforcing
them? But that's not the SPLC's point, is it?
No.
Their point is a very selective one: we don't want you to have the
nation, society or culture that you want to have unless it is completely
free from the natural human desire to be selective, except of course
when it comes to the things that we want to be selective about.
The SPLC wants you to be free...to do as it decides is proper. Unless
those are definitively minority churches or mosques out lighting the
night sky, the folks at the SPLC just don't care.
So let me ask:
aren’t jokes supposed to be funny? But who the hell’s laughing? Two
firefighters were harmed at a church in Bibb County, Alabama; while in
Brierfield, a roof beam fell on Ben Fletcher’s head and
injured his back. “They put these
firemen’s lives on the line,” said
Reverend Jim Parker. Yet this pastor of Ashby Baptist Church also said,
“We’re very relieved to know this had no political, racial, or religious
overtones.”
These churches were burnt after the three were not released, and maybe a
Zionist_ultimatium.
BEAVERTON, Alabama (CNN) --
A fire that burned a northwest Alabama church Saturday was determined to
be arson and may be related to nine other church fires in the state,
authorities said. February 12
Faith Church
of the Nazarene in Hayden, Alabama was destroyed by fire on March 24.
Blackberry Lane Community Church .. TALLADEGA — A
fire that destroyed on Old Shocco Road early Tuesday morning April 2
Tubbs Church of Christ in Oakman, about 30 miles northwest of
Birmingham, burned on Thursday, May 14, 2006.
Covenant Life Church, 11/25/2006
--“Totally shocked” was pastor Drew Whitmore’s comment at the news the
fire that destroyed their church
By Patrik Jonsson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
BEAVERTON, ALA. –
Emmy Corey, a sophomore at
the Birmingham-Southern College, knows two of three students who confessed
in March to torching nine Alabama Baptist churches. They went to the
Methodist-affiliated college of 1,500 students with her in Birmingham,
Ala.
Ms. Corey recently went to Rehobeth Church in
Lawley, which was destroyed by the fires, to offer her help and prayer.
Before the trip, though, Corey worried about how church members would
receive her, but she found there was no need. They welcomed her with open
arms, she says.
"I think [these fires] remind us that we are
connected to that Baptist church, now more than ever before."
A religion major, she attends the BSC campus's
Methodist church, and says she plans to continue volunteering as the
Baptist church rebuilds.
Corey traveled as part of 10 teams of nearly
50 students and staff, who
BSC president, David Pollick,
tapped to reach out to the affected churches. The school has also
started a charity fund, and is considering offering scholarships for
teenagers who belong to the churches.
BSC is "going beyond their means to rectify a
bad situation," says Walter Hawkins Jr., the pastor of the burned
Dancey First Baptist Church in Aliceville, Ala. "What they're doing
shows love not just for a Baptist, but for all people that they are
reaching out to help."
The Next Piece of the Fire Puzzle?
Ex-Fire Marshal on Accelerants.
Feb 17, 2006 11:21 AM EST
There are new developments in the investigation into the latest rash
of Alabama church arsons.
WSFA 12 News has learned that the tenth arson case in Lamar County
does not fit the pattern as the first nine fires.
The ashes the criminals
left behind carry a chemical calling card.
It's something anybody who has ever used rolled up newspaper to
start a fire knows.
n nearly every case,
accelerant sniffing dogs
will find whatever an arsonist used to start the inferno.
He recalls a multistory hotel fire where the top stories
collapsed on the lower floors.
Nowadays, even the most common accelerants like gasoline have
specific company formulas. If there's any left behind,
detectives can track it down.
"Even to the point of identifying exactly which, if it's a
gasoline, kerosene or diesel fuel, exactly which tank those came out
of at a specific service station, convenience store or whatever it
might have been sold," Robison said.
The ATF won't confirm if
investigators found evidence of accelerants at any fire site, but they
did tell us they have samples in the lab for analysis.
We also want to revisit what we talked about a couple days ago,
that of a geographic connection to the fires.
In a three hour period, five
churches were set ablaze. What's most interesting is the fact that the
arsonists bypassed all non-Baptist churches in and around Centreville.
Including two churches located on the same road as the ones torched.
The arsonists hit the Antioch Baptist Church on Highway 25 in
Centreville, but bypassed the Centreville Church of Christ, just down the
street. They also bypassed the Assembly of God Worship Center, the
Centreville First Presbyterian Church, the Centreville United Methodist
Church, the Freewill Apostolic Holiness Church, the Deliverance Temple
Holiness Church, the First United Pentecostal Church, the Pleasant Hill
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the Purity Holiness Church of Centreville,
and the Trinity Spirit Holiness Church. All located in the same general
vicinity.
If true, this clearly shows the effort was a hate crime. The
pace at which five churches were
burned in a single night suggests a planned effort. You would be
hard pressed to randomly find these churches so quickly on a prank. And
the fact that they skipped several non-Baptist churches during the course
of this rampage strongly points to an
attack targeted at Baptist
Birmingham-Southern College’s leadership in
collecting money to help 10 churches damaged or destroyed by fires in
February is exemplary.
Two students enrolled at the college were arrested with a former BSC
student in March and charged with conspiracy and arson in fires at
nine of the West Alabama churches.
Some colleges might have shrugged off the
arrest or tried to paper over any damage to their images. Taking its
cue from President
David Pollick,
however, Birmingham-Southern not only
stepped up to face the terrible news but also went beyond the call of
duty in responding to it.
It launched a fund drive that netted$368,000 to help
the churches. Donations ranged from $5 to
$150,000.
In Sumter County, some good comes from church arson
September 05. 2006 3:30AM
the Good Book says, God
works in mysterious ways./s And when
Demetrius Foy, from the tiny Sumter County town of Gainesville, sat down
last week for his first class at Birmingham-Southern College, an expensive
and highly selective private liberal arts college, he marveled at the
circumstances in which he found himself.
“All things work together for good," said Foy, an aspiring minister,
adding that he was quoting Romans.
The truth is, until alleged
arsonists -- two of whom happened to be students at the United Methodist
Church-affiliated college and another a graduate -- almost on a lark set
fire to his church, Foy had never heard of BSC.
In its efforts to put things right in the wake of the series of church
arsons -- some at black churches like Foy’s Spring Valley Baptist, others
at white churches -- administrators and students have been reaching out to
help in any way they can, from helping rebuild some of the most heavily
damaged churches, to providing money to others.
The fire at Spring Valley Baptist did little damage, which insurance
covered. So when
representatives of/sBirmingham-Southern
approached the pastor about what help they could offer, he came up with
the novel idea of providing financial aid for a couple of the promising,
but by no means rich, students in his congregation.
Foy was one of those to visit the picturesque BSC campus, known as “The
Hilltop" on the west side of Birmingham.
“After my first visit, I had my mind made up, this is where I wanted to
be," he told The Birmingham News last week. “It was a whole different
place."
And when
Birmingham-Southern College President David Pollick put together a package
of private, public and school money that could pay his way though the
academically rigorous small college, Foy leaped at the chance.
“You can’t pass up an opportunity like this," he said.
Foy plans to study religion and psychology at BSC. Though the urban campus
in Alabama’s largest city must seem a million miles away from Gainesville,
a town of only 220 residents at the time of the 2000 Census, Foy is poised
to fit right in.
“It’s more exciting than intimidating," he said. “I’m not easily
intimidated. I just believe that if anyone can do it, I can do it."
Pollick seems to agree and to share in the wonder of how so much good can
come out of the disaster.
“[Foy] is just a wonderful example of what kind of good came come out of
human frailty," Pollick said.
We wish Foy much success in his career at/sBirmingham-Southern College and
hope he matures into a fine minister.
“Totally shocked”
was Covenant Life Church pastor Drew Whitmore’s comment at the news the fire
that destroyed their church last Saturday was an apparent case of arson.
“How can one understand the mind of someone who would do something like this
unless you could get into their mind?”
Whitmore said. “It is extremely difficult.
“But I am very confident, based on the attitude and skills I have seen of those
handling the investigation, that the person or persons responsible for this will
be apprehended.”
The most important thing for Whitmore now, he said, “is to restore a sense of
normalcy for our members.”
Businesses in Boaz and Guntersville have offered buildings as a temporary
location.
Whitmore expressed his deep gratitude that both offers included utilizing the
facilities rent-free for 3-4 months “until we can get on our feet.”
Worship service for this Sunday only will take place in Albertville at The
Sanctuary, at 2922 Alabama 205 South. He said the only service will be at 5 p.m.
The church is still seeking assistance in replacing items destroyed in the fire.
“The most pressing need at present is for chairs,” Whitmore said. “A keyboard
and a set of drums have already been donated.”
Whitmore reemphasized his gratitude for “the response of the community, and the
kindness and sincere concern of all those working to solve the case.”
And, he said, “The continued prayers of everyone.”
The Covenant Life Church building on Alabama 168 West burned early Nov. 18. It
had recently been remodeled. An investigation by state fire marshals determined
the fire was intentionally set.
A Covenant Life Rebuilding Account has been set up at AmSouth bank, and
donations are accepted at any AmSouth branch.
Anyone wishing to donate items of furniture, etc., should call 891-9845.
