Four Klansmen were convicted for the crime, and a subsequent civil suit effectively closed the Klan chapter's operation in the county.
[1] In 1994 the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (a South Carolina branch of the Ku Klux Klan) set up headquarters in a field near the church, proclaiming that black churches taught their congregations how to manipulate the welfare system and procure government subsidies.
[2] On June 21, 1995, Timothy Adron Welch and Gary Christopher Cox of the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan poured gasoline on the floor of the Macedonian Baptist Church and set it on fire.
The two were charged with assault and battery with intent to kill, first-degree arson, and second-degree burglary of the Mount Zion AME Church in Greeleyville, SC.
The federal indictment said that Haley selected the Macedonian Baptist Church as the arson target and Rowell instructed Cox and Welch on how to set the fire.
[6] James E. Johnson and Isabelle Katz Pinzler, co-chairs of the National Church Arson Task Force commended the work of officials and investigators in the case.
Rene Josey, U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina, said "Today's sentences should serve as a wake-up call to those individuals who may consider the unlawful use of force and violence to intimidate persons based on their race and religious beliefs.
[12] King's "tiny house, a shed, a chicken coop and seven acres in rural Lexington County"[13] were sold, and he died in the early 2000s.
"[12] After the suit, King stated publicly that he was sorry anyone ever connected with his group was involved in the arson, he refused to admit personal guilt or apologize for inciting the crime.