Man who carried gas cans into NY cathedral charged with attempted arson

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Man who carried gas cans into NY cathedral charged with attempted arson

By Gabriella Borter

 

FILE PHOTO: People attend Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, December 25, 2013. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A 37-year-old man who entered New York's famed St. Patrick's Cathedral carrying two full gasoline cans, lighter fluid and lighters was charged with attempted arson on Thursday, police said.

 

Wednesday's incident occurred two days after a massive fire severely damaged the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, causing global shock and sorrow. That blaze was most likely the result of an accident though a major investigation is under way.

 

A New York City Police Department official said Marc Lamparello, a New Jersey resident, was charged with second-degree attempted arson, second-degree reckless endangerment and trespassing after he entered the Roman Catholic cathedral in midtown Manhattan just before 8 p.m. on Wednesday and was confronted by a security guard.

 

It was not immediately clear if Lamparello had a lawyer.

 

As Lamparello turned to leave the cathedral, police said, gasoline spilled from the cans he was carrying, causing cathedral staff to alert police officers stationed outside the church.

 

Lamparello told police he was taking a short cut through the cathedral to get to Madison Avenue from Fifth Avenue to return to his van, which had run out of gasoline, according to John Miller, deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism for the NYPD.

 

When police checked the vehicle they found it was not out of fuel, at which point the man was arrested, Miller said.

 

"An individual walking into an iconic location like St. Patrick's Cathedral carrying over four gallons of gasoline, two bottles of lighter fluid and lighters, is something we would have grave concern over," Miller told reporters on Wednesday.

 

The main entrance of the neo-Gothic cathedral, which has stood in the heart of Manhattan since 1879, is on Fifth Avenue. The cathedral faces Madison Avenue on its east side.

 

Lamparello has been a faculty member in the philosophy department at the City University of New York, but his name was no longer listed on the university's website on Thursday afternoon. He had booked a one-way plane ticket to Rome for Thursday, The New York Times and other local media reported.

 

Lamparello was charged earlier this week in Essex County, New Jersey, with resisting arrest, interfering with the administration of law, and trespassing after he "refused to leave" the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark on Monday at closing time, the county sheriff said.

 

Lamparello's alleged arson attempt at St. Patrick's comes only a few weeks after a man was arrested and charged with arson and hate crimes for burning down three predominantly African-American churches in Louisiana between March 26 and April 4.

 

St. Patrick's is considered one of the most important symbols of the Catholic Church in the United States.

 

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter in New York; Additional reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico, Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Leslie Adler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-04-19

[PETERTHEEATER]

The man was heard to shout 'Whezze bbq at'

[Benmart]

4 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

The man was heard to shout 'Whezze bbq at'

Juvenile.

[MickeyDelux]

This is really frightening, but even more frightening is that Lamparello has been a faculty member in the philosophy department at the City University of New York. It seems the colleges and universities are now a heaven for these types. 

[bristolboy]

1 hour ago, MickeyDelux said:

This is really frightening, but even more frightening is that Lamparello has been a faculty member in the philosophy department at the City University of New York. It seems the colleges and universities are now a heaven for these types. 

Yes, the faculties at US colleges and universities are rife with arsonists. No one is safe.

[Prissana Pescud]

2 hours ago, bristolboy said:

Yes, the faculties at US colleges and universities are rife with arsonists. No one is safe.

I suspect this is tongue in cheek. (At least I hope so) You are more likely to be shot than burnt at any education or religious institution.

The authorities did well to apprehend him. And I hope he does a long time away, probably in a mental institution.

Some of the posters may need a little ..... Oh never mind.

[RobMuir]

No mention of this being a “terrorist attack” 

 

But if he happened to be a Muslim then it definitely would have been labeled as such. 

 

Funny how that works.

[Nyezhov]

11 hours ago, MickeyDelux said:

This is really frightening, but even more frightening is that Lamparello has been a faculty member in the philosophy department at the City University of New York. It seems the colleges and universities are now a heaven for these types. 

The left is already on philosophical record that violent revolution is the only answer to the "problems" of America. What better way than to strike at one of the symbols of oppression and patriarchy as embodied by St Pats

[Nyezhov]

7 hours ago, RobMuir said:

No mention of this being a “terrorist attack” 

 

But if he happened to be a Muslim then it definitely would have been labeled as such. 

 

Funny how that works.

Yes if he would have been a Repub? But hes a Lefty Academic. Perahps his actions get excuased because he is striking a blow?

[IAMHERE]

Well maybe he was taking that stuff to be blessed.

[bristolboy]

31 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Yes if he would have been a Repub? But hes a Lefty Academic. Perahps his actions get excuased because he is striking a blow?

This is another lie apparently based on Nyezhov's cliched belief that "academic = lefty" In fact, all we know about Lamparello's beliefs is that he's a devout Catholic. So it seems unlikely that he finds congenial company in the party of family planning and abortion rights. 

 

Deeply religious suspect, devout but demented, gets psych exam after St. Patrick’s Cathedral arrest ends mystifying two-state meltdown

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/ny-st-patrick-arrest-dad-speaks-20190418-j4cetm56gjfmjkbl4vlghwvs3u-story.html

[lannarebirth]

52 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

The left is already on philosophical record that violent revolution is the only answer to the "problems" of America.

 

Thomas Jefferson is as well.

[bristolboy]

54 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

The left is already on philosophical record that violent revolution is the only answer to the "problems" of America. What better way than to strike at one of the symbols of oppression and patriarchy as embodied by St Pats

The entire left? Most of the left? Does the left have a Pope who speaks for it? Got some data to show that this is a widely held view? Stop lying.

[gamb00ler]

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

Stop lying.

Lying seems to have garnered a certain cachet of late.

[TPI]

7 hours ago, bristolboy said:

The entire left? Most of the left? Does the left have a Pope who speaks for it? Got some data to show that this is a widely held view? Stop lying.

Ah Bristolboy! You've come out of your cave to add another missif of your rational argument! With nothing to say and nothing to back it up (how do you know he's lying, show me the data?)! Why don't you do your own data search, then you can honestly say whether he is lying or not?? Although the word "lying" is a bit harsh in the circumstance, isn't it?