SFGate is reporting that Paul Addis, the man who was previous arrested for setting fire to Burning Man early, was arrested yesterday for allegedly planning to set fire to Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. According to SFGate, Paul was arrested on the steps of the church wearing an old ammunition belt that carried small explosives.
Paul was booked into the San Francisco County jail at the Hall of Justice and on charges of attempted arson, possession of a device of arson, possession of a destructive device and attempted arson of a church. Bail has been set at $488,000.
See Previously:
- Paul Addis, The Man Accused of Setting Fire to Burning Man
- Burning Man Set on Fire Early Due To Arson
UPDATE 1 (10/29/07): Paul’s next court date in Nevada is on November 13th for the previous charges related to the early burning of Burning Man.
UPDATE 2 (10/29/07): CBS 5 KPIX has been covering the story and have posted video of the bomb squad on the scene after the arrest and on Monday, October 29th Joe Vazquez did a story on Paul for their 11pm broadcast.
UPDATE 3 (10/30/07): The Associated Press is reporting that Paul, who is currently still in jail, has been charged three felonies and two misdemeanors, including arson, possessing explosives and incendiary devices, removing required markings from an imitation firearm and violating a court order.
UPDATE 4 (11/03/07): Our friend Amacker, who has been in close contact with Paul throughout all of this, has posted this update on his situation.
UPDATE 5 (11/14/07): Joe Eskenazi has posted an update about Paul Addis on the SF Weekly blog, where he reports that Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco has a restraining order against him for making threats to their students and that Paul was arrested in Seattle after an incident at a hotel.
UPDATE 5 (12/20/07): The SF Examiner published an update on Paul Addis, who is remains in custody on felony charges, which according to his public defender are “overblown”. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 4th.
UPDATE 5 (3/18/08): San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that Paul has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge related to the Grace Cathedral incident.
Here Are A Few Related Posts You Might Enjoy:
- Paul Addis Pleads Guilty To Damaging Property at Burning Man 2007
- Paul Addis, The Man Accused of Setting Fire to Burning Man
- Paul Addis Granted Parole After Serving Time Attempting To Burn Down Burning Man
- Paul Addis Takes Gonzo to Seattle and Los Angeles
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I guess some people have a hard time letting go of the Playa …
Another stunt ? more evidence of mental illness? more megalomania?
Paul, I think you just flushed your hopes of becoming the new godhead, Larry 2.0.
Well, this pretty much shatters my theory that the early burn was an inside job commanded by Larry Harvey.
Drat!
Y’know considering his track record and public personality, I can easily see two possible scenarios. One where he was just simply wearing explosives just for the shock value, and one where he actually planned to set something on fire. Its kinda hard to defend this one. One way or the other, not surprising that he was arrested.
Strange sense of humor, this one.
Seriously? He was already on a lot of people’s lists and now this?
Sigh.
I saw it on the news this morning, and they didn’t disclose the name. I knew it though. I think we all knew it.
I was willing to let the early burning of the Man go as a decent prank that helped provoke discussion about the nature of the Burning Man event. It didn’t mean I had to like Addis, especially in the whirlwind of publicity that followed him around for a while. This, however, is the icing on the shit-cake that hopefully will prove once and for all how much of a douche Addis really is.
Seriously, f@ck this guy.
I want to send a box of chocolates to whoever tipped the cops off. Paul was probably bragging about his next “job” to people who he thought were his friends.
Death to all fanatics.
I wonder how people who were praising this idiot feel now? He’s a jerk and a danger to society. His religious right? What a dick
5iver!
I’m waiting to see what sort of story Mr. Addis can spin; plus, who would rat him out to the police? Was it an inside job? A member of the “Black Rock Intelligence Service”?
What sort of explosives? Were they just firecrackers?
-=TT=-
Great sense of timing.
Arsonists have just done well over a billion dollars worth of damage in Southern California. People I went to high school with are now homeless, everyone’s health is compromised by breathing in all of that crap, misery is everywhere.
And now you choose to come back with another arson stunt to teach us all again how bad ass you are.
I hope they crucify you in court on this one.
Dear Daniel,
I think it’s great that he probably burned the man early. That certainly made “my burn” more enjoyable. That doesn’t mean that I support all of his actions going forward. I’m sure that other people who thought the early burn was not a net negative feel similarly.
I don’t think burning churches is productive but I find it suspect that he was apparently going to attempt to burn a stone building. I suspect someone is jumping the shark.
i’m not a big fan of one-sided stories based on next to nothing. we know he was arrested, but everything else is complete conjecture. what’s the point?
i didn’t know that ’small explosives’ (aka, ‘firecrackers’) were a good way to burn a stone church down. silly me.
if i didn’t know any better, i’d think this press-release-as-news-story was written by Donald Rumsfeld himself. Only the Pentagon could be this incompetent.
Isn’t that considered a “Hate crime”?
Attacking a persons belief and lifestyle?
Or an act of terrorism?
hoo boy he’s gonna do some time.
And if he doesn’t, I don’t think he’ll be invited to many more parties.
And all the people that backed him won’t want to admit to knowing him.
Is there now any doubt to anyone that all his actions are screaming “INSTITUTIONALIZE ME?”
Sorry, Paul – you gotta hold it together better.
I don’t think his friends are going to be able to raise that amount of bail (perfectly warranted considering the multiple arrests after his release from jail in Nevada).
Look, the lord is going to come back and send the entire worl to hell to burn anyway, so is it really arson if Paul is just burning what god is going to burn anyway.
While the exterior structure of Grace Cathederal is all reinforced concrete (yep!), the interior contains some positively astounding tapestries, stained-glass, very old lithographs and printed books, and who knows how much carefully hand-carved and hand-polished woodwork. Not to mention an amaaaaazing organ.
The exterior of Grace Cathederal is stronger than any of our local freeways. If CalTrans gave a shit as much as the church did, I’d feel an awful lot safer driving ’round here.
Burning the Man early ruined the timing of an over-produced event, and 2 months worth of heave-ho labor; though it made a priceless statement.
The human labor and passion vested in all the handicrafts within the gothic rebar of Grace Cathederal is unfathomable. Sure, it’s also a monetary asset to the church. Respect for craft and trade-labor superceeds any religious or political statement that could be made tho, by destroying these treasures.
Pining to find-out what the back-story is on this- as I also think it does seem fishy, that anyone would be attempting anything to a concrete building that sustained minimal Loma-Prieta damage, or to the labor-intensive handicrafts inside.
According to the news stories I’ve read, Addis was arrested with a “belt of explosives” and fireworks in his backpack. He’s being charged with “He was booked on suspicion of attempted arson, possession of an incendiary substance, possession of explosives and possession of explosives with intent to terrorize a church”, so I don’t think it’s just some firecrackers, as some of his diehard fans might like to believe.
“I don’t think burning churches is productive”…well, there’s an understatement. I just hope this does make some of Addis’s cheerleaders do some rethinking, though there will probably be stubborn folkjs like Jacob who will continue top insist that because they personally thought a bit of arson enlived their trip, nothing else matters.
Saw this on another source:
‘Deputy Chief Morris Tabak said Addis had only a small amount of explosives.
“Did he have the capability to do substantial damage? Absolutely not,” Tabak said.’
So no, he probably couldn’t have hurt the cathedral too much. On the other hand, found this on cbs5.com:
‘Police were tipped off to the plot in the city’s Nob Hill neighborhood after Addis’ neighbor reportedly heard him say that “the cathedral wasn’t going to be there anymore,” McGrath added.’
Maybe Addis is so gone that he had the intent to do more damage but grossly overestimated his own ability to do damage. Whatever – I think he’s probably really gone off the deep end.
I think his comment about it being “his religious right” to attack the church speaks volumes about the morality of his first act of arson.
I thought the man burning early was amusing, until he opened his mouth about why he did it. Then I realized he had no real motive except to be an attention whore.
I would have liked to witness the frustration at trying to set stone on fire.
And Grace Cathedral is a progressive political and cultural institution as well, not just a religious one.
http://www.gracecathedral.org
they’ve been webcasting and archiving many of their events since 1995
http://www.gracecathedral.org/av/
they even interviewed Larry Harvey
http://www.gracecathedral.org/enrichment/forum/for_20010520.shtml
And with bail just shy of half a million dollars I really don’t see that many of your buddies rushing to get you out of jail anytime soon. So much for your upcoming play. Bummer, dude.
Seriously though, how does this guy make rent?
Hi, my name is Joe Vazquez , a reporter from CBS5 TV in San Francisco.
Scott suggested I leave a comment here, as I am looking for help on a story for tonight’s newscast.
Does anybody who knows Paul Addis want to talk about him – or on his behalf – on TV tonight?
So far we only have the police department’s side of the story.
Please write me at joe@kpix.cbs.com.
Isn’t CBS-5 the local news agency who had aviation expert Todd Lappin from Telstar Logistics on, to comment about airplane technology in light of some accident (or something), in the past year?
Don’t you just love how the same people who call him an impulsive fanatic are so quick to hang him solely on the evidence of an article from a second rate newspaper?
I’m sure glad I live in a country where we are all presumed innocent until proven guilty, that there are trials by jury, (and that none of the previous commenters will be on said jury). I am also thankful that I am part of a society that cares for and treats those who are ill and recognizes that sometimes the best solution for those who can’t get along in society is not just to lock them in a cell and throw away the key.
I’m not saying Paul Addis is a misunderstood saint, but how about put away our torches and pitchforks, step back a little bit and get a little perpective?
“I’m not saying Paul Addis is a misunderstood saint, but how about put away our torches and pitchforks, step back a little bit and get a little perpective?”
No thanks. I’m perfectly OK with mob mentality and the law of the jungle right now.
I really don’t have a sense of humor about arson these days. Bad timing. I don’t care about the amount of explosives the guy had on him or his mental health. Sorry. Don’t care.
And Paul should sure as hell consider himself lucky. If he had pulled this stunt in Southern California there’s a strong chance he would not be in one piece right now.
“so I don’t think it’s just some firecrackers, as some of his diehard fans might like to believe.”
cops lie all the time. they shoot a black guy in the back and then say they saw him reaching into his pocket for a gun, and a gun is never found, of course. and then they find bullet holes in the bottom of the victim’s feet. or the victim ends up with his intestines shredded by police batons.
cops will kick your ass and then charge you with resisting or assaulting. they’re gods walking the streets. they are rarely if ever punished for their various crimes – rapes, murders, sexual assaults of various kinds, you name it. there is no effective oversight.
i.e., to suggest that cops/the DA/the government would not levy outrageous charges against someone just because they can has no basis in fact.
any google news search will find countless examples – from the duke prosecutor (who was only caught b/c he tried to prosecute rich people) to the u.s. government’s trumped up case against the muslim charity that was just declared a mistrial because the ‘evidence’ was laughable.
it’s time for some perspective:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/ron666/bcnd.html
just take a listen to anyone of these and you’ll start to get a feel for how widespread police terrorism is:
http://tinyurl.com/2zzyld
take a look at the innocence project to see how cops, da’s, and judges work together to throw innocent people in jail, and keep them there even after they’re proven innocent:
http://www.innocenceproject.org/
in fact, you don’t have to go any further than this blog to see what could be just another example of police criminality:
http://laughingsquid.com/dna-evidence-proves-innocence-of-west-memphis-three/
Looks like he also has a restraining order against him for making threats to shoot students in the head.
Charming.
http://sfweekly.com/2007-11-14/news/burning-man-arsonist-paul-addis-backstory-murder-threats-arrests/
Last month, San Francisco’s Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory sought a restraining order against Addis after the 37-year-old allegedly threatened to murder students at the school. Nick Barsetti, the security coordinator for the school, claimed Addis told students on Sept. 8 he would “shoot them in the head with a Mac-10″ submachine gun, and “pick them off one by one,” according to court documents. An emergency protection order was promptly granted on Sept. 10. But, one day later, Addis was back and making “threatening gestures” to school staff.
Addis clearly needs to be put away. The criminal code hands us two obvious charges:
The premature burning of the man – reckless endangerment. What if somebody had been in the base of the man when it was set on fire?
The rifle incident – assault (a man in the clerk’s position could be put in reasonable fear of imminent bodily harm)
I’m sure that there are more, but given that he has threatened to put bullets in the backs of the heads of the students at that school, I would think that one has the basis for a psychiatric commitment: “poses a threat to himself or others”. Of course, the local authorities can always wait until he actually shoots up a school, and then try to explain to the national media why they ignored the danger signs.
Yes, that would do wonderful things for San Francisco’s reputation.