the run. we also have breaking news for you ve night. a fire roars through a historic black church. officials now trying to figure out what sparked this blaze. it was a church once targeted by the kkk. there were concerns this could have been arson. i say this blaze, because as you well know seven fires in eight days at black churches. what are authorities saying about a connection? reporter: they re not speaking much about a connection. of the seven fires, this one is still being investigated. two of the fires have been determined to be the result of arson one possibly. let me step out of the way and show you what s left of mt. zion ame here. you can see one of the fire engines leaving here. there are state investigators here, atf agents on the ground. you see pieces of charred wood
and metal that investigators have pulled out in an attempt to determine the cause here. there was a storm that passed through hours before the blaze really kicked up. so lightning is being investigated as a possibility. but so are other components. the fbi will join this investigation to determine if arson or if there s a hate component. and that would not be the first for mt. zion ame. two members of the klu klux klan burned the original church to the ground. they served time in prison. in 1996 president clinton came to this building for the rededication. and now this community, this congregation will have to rebuild again. as you mentioned, this is the 7th black church to be destroyed by fire since the charleston massacre two weeks ago. and now the naacp is warning black churches to take precautions. back to you. and what precautions those
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nothing left in here that s salvageable. a total loss here. there were atf investigators inside this church, is state investigators, local investigators looking for an accelerant or some indicator of what caused this fire. again, federal law enforcement sources tell cnn that lightning is the cause. in fact, there were according to seen mean mocnn meteorologists the map up if we can four lightning strikes in the close vicinity of mt. zion ame. now, this church has been through a rebuild after a fire before. as you mentioned 20, years ago, june of 1995, two members of the ku klux klan burned down the original mt. zion ame. they pleaded guilty, served close to 20 years in prison. then president bill clinton came to rededicate this church and we spoke with the mayor of greeleyville, jesse parker,
morning to allow atf agents to take dogs inside. they also had a ladder truck up so they could get an aerial view of the destruction. all of these tools that they hope will help them determine exactly how this started. we ve been talking to people who have been coming here to see the church now that it s daylight to take photos, a lot of us telling us they were praying it was caused by nature and not by humans. the possibility of a repeat of that racially motivated arson of 1995 almost too much to bear for some people. back to you. all right. sarah. thank you so much. mt. zion ame is the eighth church destroyed by fire in the last few weeks. officials confirm at least two of those fires were intentionally set. joining us now from montgomery alabama, is richard cohen, president of the southern poverty law center. mr. cohen, thank you for your time. again, we don t know if this fire was intentionally set, but