A fire that broke out at a black church in Springfield, Massachusetts, earlier this week is being investigated by local and federal authorities as a possible hate crime.

The fire started at around 5 a.m. on Monday at the Martin Luther King Jr., Community Presbyterian Church. Local firefighters spent roughly an hour trying to put out the fire, which burned down a significant portion of the church, including the roof, which had been recently renovated.

Springfield Fire Commissioner Bernard Calvi shared with reporters on Monday that the fire was “highly suspicious.” Calvi stated, “It's a church that burned at nighttime, so it's a potential hate crime.”

Suspicion about the motive behind the church fire has also been raised because of three fires that occurred in the general area in the previous three weeks. Ron Johnson, who is the President and CEO of a social welfare agency associated with the church, Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services, shared with the local news channel WWLP about a previous fire. He explains, “There was a small fire around the cardboard that was being stored, and the department handled the problem. I didn’t really think about it. I thought someone might have thrown a cigarette or something. Obviously, there were other intentions as well." Johnson goes on to say that the church burning down is a “devastation.”

Lisa Baker, a clerk who worked inside the church, also shared with WWLP that the loss was one that was painful because of all the memories created in the building. Baker goes on to add that the church is more than just its physical facility, however. She adds, “The building is a building. I have a lot of memories, but it’s not our church. Our church is our people.”

As a whole, the community is stunned and saddened by the destruction of the 40-year-old church that was recently renovated through a community-led fundraiser. The community does plan to rebuild and is currently holding services online until church officials figure out how to move forward.

Local authorities are continuing their investigation and are trying to rule out whether or not the fire may have started by accident. The Springfield Police and the Massachusetts Fire Investigators are working alongside federal authorities, including the ATF and the FBI, to investigate suspicions that the fire was started intentionally. State investigators are offering a $5,000 reward for any tips about the fire.

Hate Crimes on the Rise in the U.S.

Suspicions of the church burning being a hate crime come after reports that hate crimes in the United States have reached their highest level in over a decade. In the most recent analysis released by the FBI, the data shows there have been at least 51 murders because of hate crimes in 2019. That year's most notable hate crime was the shooting in El Paso, Texas, at a local Walmart where Mexicans were the primary targets. That shooting resulted in the death of 22 individuals. The shooter, Patrick Crusius, 21, was eventually charged with 90 counts of state and federal crimes.

The FBI defines a hate crime as any motivation to do harm to an individual or a group of people caused by a bias that is based on an individual's race, religion, or sexual orientation. According to the FBI's latest data, last year saw 7,314 hate crimes. This is a steady increase from the year before at just 7,120 hate crimes. More recently, hate crimes have been fueled by religious motivations as there was a 7% increase in religious-based hate crimes last year when compared to the year before. In 2019, almost a thousand of those reported hate crimes were targeting Jewish individuals and institutions. Hate crimes targeting African Americans such as the one potentially displayed in the Springfield, Massachusetts church fire have dropped from 1,943 to 1,930. Although there has been a drop in hate crimes against African Americans, race-related hate crimes still target African Americans at 48.4%.