Man Who Brought Lighters, Butane, and Gasoline into St. Patrick's Cathedral Arrested; He's a "Philosophy Teacher" Who Had Just Booked a Flight to Rome

Here's what we knew as of last night: A "New Jersey Man" arrested with filled gas cans inside St. Patrick's cathedral in NYC. When police stopped him, he claimed his minivan ran out of fuel.

I don't see any plausible reason given for bringing gasoline into a church.

"As the man was turned, police say gasoline spilled out onto the floor. Security then notified nearby police who questioned the man outside the church and took him into custody.

"Police say the man was carrying over four gallons of gas, two bottles of lighter fluid and two butane lighters."

Now he's been arrested for attempted arson -- and he'd been arrested at another church earlier in the week, after refusing to leave at closing time.

A 37-year-old man who was arrested Wednesday after entering St. Patrick's Cathedral carrying two cans of gasoline, lighter fluid and butane lighters had also been arrested at a New Jersey cathedral this week and had booked a flight to Rome, the New York Police Department said.

Marc Lamparello, a college teacher, has been charged with attempted arson, reckless endangerment and trespassing, according to police.

"There doesn't appear to be any connection to any terrorist group or any terrorist-related intent here," said John Miller, the New York Police Department's deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism.

...

Miller said surveillance camera footage showed Lamparello circling St. Patrick's several times in a minivan Wednesday well over an hour before he parked outside the cathedral on Fifth Avenue, walked around the area, returned to his vehicle, and retrieved the gasoline and lighter fluid. When he entered the church, he was confronted by a security officer, who notified counterterrorism officers standing outside.

Lamparello told the officers his car was out of gas and headed in a direction away from where he was parked, Miller said. Officers found his vehicle and determined it was not out of gas, Miller said.

Mb>Before going to St. Patrick's on Wednesday, Lamparello booked a $2,800 ticket on a 5:20 p.m. Thursday flight to Italy, according to Miller.

On Monday, he had been arrested at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey, after he refused to leave at closing time, Miller said.

Monday is of course when Notre Dame was burning -- and assuming the church's closing time was in the late afternoon or evening, he would have been attempting to remain in a church after seeing Notre Dame burn all afternoon.

Had he been inspired?

Was he up to something there, too?

And what was he planning to do in Rome, a city famous for cathedrals?

Why did he buy a ticket last-minute, when it's so expensive? And was it only a ticket, singular, as the article says -- a one-way trip?

I'm going to take a guess that his philosophical inquiries focus mainly on the areas of atheism and anti-clericalism. (Update: Actually, that might not be a good bet; I'm not sure if he is anti-catholic or anti-religious. He might just be a depressed incel loon.)

Update: The Heavy says that the NYDN reports the ticket to Italy was indeed a one-way ticket.

Note the lighters are even more incriminating that normal lighters -- those are grill lighters. The long tube helps keep your hands safe when you ignite a potent flame.

Why was he carrying those lighters? What was he planning to grill?

You don't light cigarettes with those.

The Heavy says that police are looking at him as a possibly emotionally-disturbed individual.

In August, he wrote about his own appearance, “I’m going through a phase. After not giving a shit about my appearance for 20 years, I’ve swung in the opposite direction. Now, I’m very vain and appearance-obsessed. I’ve lost 70 pounds, 25 more to go. Thinking about doing other stuff, too. Learned a lot about what makes people beautiful in the process, though, and thought I could share my knowledge on here to help people. I’m hoping that, in time, I settle down somewhere in the middle, conscientious of my appearance, in shape, stylish, but without a dozen plastic surgeries.”

He also wrote about struggling on a dating app, "Honestly, I'm getting murdered on Tinder. It’s a total self-esteem killer. I'm a pretty in-shape guy, and I'm going for in-shape women who are a little attractive, and have a few nice features. Not models, but just generically attractive women. I've "swiped right" on 500+ women. So far, not a single match. Depressing. I think I should probably give up on dating for the time being, and focus really hard on school and work and saving up as much as I can for plastic surgery. Based on the consults I've had with my plastic surgeon, I'm confident I can go from a 4/10 to a 7.2–7.3/10. That’s what I'll focus on now."

This may be terrorism. It might also be an attempted act of destruction without any real political terroristic motive, a "Nova" type of explosive, senseless destruction before hoping for the cowardly euthanasia of suicide by cop.

I guess I should also say "It's possible he had no bad motives," though I do not believe that for a moment.

("Nova" is a term I've heard used to describe depressed/emotionally disturbed men who do something terrible on their path to suicide, like kill their whole family.)

posted by Ace of Spades at 03:33 PM

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