Georgia Teen Accused Of Planning Church Attack To Appear In Court

GAINESVILLE, GA — A hearing is scheduled Thursday at 1:30 p.m. inside the Hall County courthouse for a white, teenage girl accused of plotting to fatally attack members of Bethel AME church in Gainesville last November.

The teen, whose name has not been released by police due to her age, was ultimately arrested after her classmates alerted authorities to a notebook that police said she kept with detailed plans to attack and kill members of the predominately Black church.

"Students confided in school counselors regarding a juvenile's notebook with detailed plans to commit murder at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Gainesville," Gainesville police said in a news release at the time. "The school administration conducted the preliminary investigation and verified the threat."

The teen was charged with criminal attempt to commit murder and was taken to the Regional Youth Detention Center in Gainesville.

Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, presiding prelate of the Sixth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, said the teen traveled to Bethel AME on two different occasions with the intent to commit murder, but the church was closed.

According to Jackson, the teen planned to attend bible study to replicate at Bethel AME in Gainesville what Dylan Roof, a white man, carried out in June 2015 at Mother Emanuel AME in Charleston, South Carolina.

Roof visited under the guise of bible study, killing nine church members, including the pastor. Authorities revealed that the Georgia teen idolized Roof and wanted to repeat these acts at Bethel AME.

Thursday's hearing will take place on the fourth floor in the courtroom of Judge Kathlene F. Gosselin and will be heard by Judge Allyson Toller.

Bishop Jackson is scheduled to make an impact statement during the hearing. The Rev. Michelle Rizer-Pool, the pastor of Bethel AME Church, is also scheduled to speak.

SEE ALSO:

• Teen Planned To Attack Predominately Black Georgia Church: Police