[removed]

Wait, neither article says why they did it?

For kicks. IIRC, drugs and alcohol were involved. They're lucky that they weren't charged with a hate crime. The barns they targeted were owned by Amish and Mennonite farmers.

This is local news and when I first heard about it, I started digging deeper. This was right after he was found guilty, about a week or two ago.

Meanwhile, they thought it was a real hoot.

They should get the book thrown at them. Burning farmers' barns down is like taking away their livelihood.

Especially amish and mennonite barns since those would have absolutely been put up by hand in much the same way as 100 years ago. At best, these people won’t drive cars with any chrome on them because they’re “too English” at that point. At worst they, don’t use electricity in any capacity they can avoid.

They keep to themselves, are industrious, god-fearing people, and genuinely look to help any community they are part of. It’s disgusting to think that someone would target these people in any capacity.

Yes. Some livestock died in their little Funtime. They are also facing charges in two other counties.

I grew up around them in this area. Great people and extremely honest in their own way.

Amish are hardworking but they have very high rates of domestic, child sexual, and animal abuse in their communities which they keep hidden. They should not be put on pedestals.

Obviously this is not to condone what this person did in any way.

That’s fair, but you can say that about any number of communities. For example, police have a domestic abuse rate of 40% (4x national average for USA).

I wasn’t really trying to put the amish/mennonite communities on a pedestal as much as I was their craftsmanship and work ethic. I think any community, sufficiently insular, will have bad actor-members who exploit the insular and secret nature of the group to their own ends. Doubly so for any religious community.

The price of digital ink go up?

From elsewhere:

Court documents do not detail their alleged motivations, saying only that Thomas told police that she and Hershberger would “drive around and he would pick out barns to burn.”

but also

PLYMOUTH, Ind. (AP) — A couple accused of torching eight barns last year in a northern Indiana county now face charges alleging that they also set fire to an Amish school in an adjacent county.

Some, but not all, of the barns the pair allegedly set on fire belonged to members of the Amish community.

[removed]

Also in many Amish communities, the men have agreed that they should be able to use some modern tools, but no modern tools are allowed that would make women's work easier.

[removed]

[removed]

TV news is very concise. They give you a brief rundown. But if you want more detail, you have to hit the newsppers

Forgot about that one. Need to check, it may have been the one up the road from where I grew up.