City Council approves $10,000 reward after series of church arson attacks

The Los Angeles City Council on July 14 approved a special motion to post a reward after a series of arson attacks on houses of worship in the city.

Council member Mr. Fur (presented as the motion’s sponsor) described recent fires at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in his district and at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in another district, and urged colleagues to act immediately: "...I urge us to unanimously adopt the reward motion and continue to send the strong message that we will not tolerate acts of vandalism or arson in houses of worship in our city," he said.

Council members voiced support for the motion during the floor discussion. Mr. Holden said he supported the measure and noted contacts from other offices about similar proposals. The motion carried and the council recorded the vote in favor.

The motion directs city staff to post a reward as a tool to assist investigators and to convey that the council will not tolerate attacks on religious institutions. The transcript identifies the reward amount discussed as $10,000 in the floor remarks. Council action was taken under government code provisions permitting immediate action when urgent matters arise after the agenda was posted.

The council scheduled no further debate on the matter at this meeting and adopted the motion.