Investigators allegedly found racist writing in home of man arrested for burning Black church

NORTH PROVIDENCE – Investigators allegedly found racist and extremist writings in the apartment of the town resident accused of trying to torch the Shiloh Gospel Temple early Sunday.

Federal authorities say Kevin Colantonio, 35, purchased $10 of gasoline and a Bic lighter at Cumberland Farms before heading on foot to the Pentecostal church at 974 Charles St. in North Providence and igniting several fires around the building.

“Hunt them down. Gun everyone who isn’t white,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter K. Roklan read Thursday at Colantonio’s initial appearance in U.S. District Court.

Other writings included more about burning down churches and targeting nonwhites, revealing Colantionio’s racist, extremist ideology and motives for setting multiple fires around the church, Roklan said.

Shiloh Gospel Temple has about 100 members, most of whom are Black.

Colantonio was arrested at his home Thursday without incident by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with members of the North Providence Police Department and the State Fire Marshal’s Office. He is charged with maliciously damaging or destroying property by fire or explosives, according to an affidavit unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court.

Colantonio held in custody

Roklan asked the judge that he be held as a danger to the community and potential flight risk on the charge of malicious damage or destruction of property by fire or explosives.

“This was a deliberate attempt to destroy the church,” Roklan said.

The judge ordered Colantonio, who wore a blue collared shirt and has tattoo-sleeved arms, to be held.

Colantonio said little at the hearing and spoke in a soft voice, his lawyer, Rebecca Aithchison, by his side.

He faces a mandatory five years behind bars if convicted.

Suspect spotted by Ring camera

North Providence police were alerted hours before the fires by Temple Pastor Eric Perry that someone had tried to break into the church. Perry, on his way back from a conference in Florida, said he spotted the man via a Ring security camera the church recently installed.

Perry shouted at the man through the camera, telling him the building was a church, but he continued trying to break through the door before destroying the surveillance camera, according to authorities.

Another witness reported seeing a hooded man pouring what is believed to be gasoline around the church and then setting it ablaze, according to the affidavit.

A window was broken, and the fires left the church filled with the smell of smoke and gasoline, forcing the Shiloh Gospel Temple to hold its Sunday service at another church. The church has been around for 35 years and has about 100 members, who are mostly Black.

The Department of Justice enforces federal hate crimes laws that cover certain crimes committed on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability.

Investigation continues

U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha said at a news conference late Thursday that the investigation continues and that other charges may follow, including a possible hate crime.

"We will pursue any additional affiliation he had," Cunha said of Colantonio, who also has Florida connections.

He commended North Providence police officers who arrived at the scene for taking quick action to put the fires out as flames traveled up curtains and around the door frame.

"Had they not acted swiftly and surely as they did, there is every indication that the damage to this house of worship would have been catastrophic," he said.

He said there is no evidence that there is an ongoing threat in the community. "[To] the clergy and parishioners of the Shiloh Gospel Temple ... I cannot imagine how you must feel at this profound violation of what is, and is meant to be, a place of refuge and a place of worship," Cunha said.

North Providence Police Chief Alfredo Ruggiero Jr. said that the congregation intends to resume its service at 7 p.m. Friday.

"We strongly feel their services will be safe," Ruggiero said.

Pastor Perry said he was somewhat relieved by the arrest.

"I thought we were past this in the country ... I just want to make sure it's just one person," Perry said, adding that his parishioners remain very distressed and afraid.

"This is a hate crime – that's what it should be called," Perry said.

He also praised his officers for quick work, including spotting Colantonio carrying a gas can and checking in at Cumberland Farms on a hunch. A clerk there remembered Colantonio paying for a coffee with a credit card, leading them to his identity, he said.

Mayor Charles Lombardi said he was "elated" that an arrest was made so quickly. He praised the work of the North Providence police and fire departments, as well as the state Fire Marshal's Office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He says he's still waiting to hear about a possible motive.

"I'm just hoping it's not a color issue," he said.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal investigated, along with the North Providence Police Department and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

With reports from Journal Staff Writer Jack Perry.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Arrest made in North Providence church burning of Shiloh Gospel Temple