NORTH PROVIDENCE — A 36-year-old man was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for setting fires around a predominantly Black church and assaulting federal officers while detained.
Kevin Colantonio pleaded guilty in February to malicious damage by means of fire, obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs, and two counts of assault on a federal officer.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. sentenced Colantonio Thursday to be followed by three years of supervised release.
Colantonio admitted he used gasoline and a lighter purchased at a nearby gas station to ignite five fires around the exterior of Shiloh Gospel Temple Ministries on Feb. 11, 2024.
North Providence officers arrived moments after the fires were lit and quickly extinguished them, but not before the church sustained damage.
Church services were cancelled until the building could be reopened due to the damage.
Hours before the fires were discovered, the pastor reported witnessing someone on the church’s Ring camera attempting to break into the building.
The pastor spoke to the person through the camera, telling him the building was a church, but the man continued trying to break in and then broke the camera off the building.
The pastor later identified Colantonio as the person he saw on the Ring camera.
The day after the arson, Colantonio privately messaged a family member calling the church “Athiest God mockers” and saying “They’re busy dancing around collecting money.”
During a Feb. 15, 2024 search of Colantonio’s residence, an accelerant detection canine indicated a positive reaction on clothing items matching what he wore the night of the arson.
Officers also seized notebooks with writings including “Eliminate Rich Snob global Elite Pastors, burn churches down to ground, when congregants move to next church, do the same.”
In a separate entry, Colantonio wrote “hunt them down gun everyone down that isn’t white, if one is white spread the gospel. Always give our bloodline a chance.”
Colantonio also admitted to assaulting two federal correctional officers while detained at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility.
He struck the officers with human bodily waste and fluid contained in a mug he threw at them.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives with assistance from North Providence police and the Rhode Island State Fire Marshal’s Office.
