A Connecticut man has been charged with a hate crime after admitting to setting a car used by missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on fire because he “disliked the Mormon faith.”
A witness getting ready for work early Monday noticed Samuel Vandeusen, 22, placing a lit rag in the gas tank of the 2022 Chevy Equinox used by the missionaries. Police arrived and quickly arrested Vandeusen, who admitted to wanting to blow up the car because he hated the missionaries proselyting and attempting to convert people in the area. Vandeusen claimed it was a “crime of passion.”
Vandeusen was charged with arson, breach of peace, criminal mischief, and deprivation of rights. Deprivation of rights is considered a hate crime in Connecticut.
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Mugshot of Samuel VandeusenVandeusen was held on a $250,000 bond Monday and scheduled to appear in court. No new information on the case has been released.
The multi-family home where the missionaries lived in an apartment in the basement.
Aleah is a graduate of Southern Virginia University, where she studied English, Creative Writing, and Dance. She now works full time as a marketing and product manager, writer, and editor. She currently hosts the podcast “Single to the Glory” about singlehood in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Aleah served a mission in California and loves baking, Lang Leav poetry, Gaynor Minden pointe shoes, and Bollywood movies.
