MARYLAND
NBC Washington
The African-American couple who had a cross burned on their front lawn by a Ku Klux Klan leader who is now a Catholic priest in Virginia said the priest’s actions were “almost unforgivable” and refused to meet with him until he named other members of the hate group.
Father William Aitcheson, a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington, burned a cross in 1977 on the couple’s lawn in College Park, Maryland, News4 reported.
Philip and Barbara Butler spoke out Tuesday and said that even though the priest was criminally convicted, he never apologized or paid them $23,000 in court-ordered restitution. The priest also never identified other KKK members, which Philip Butler urged him to do.
“He needed help to put that cross up,” Philip Butler said.
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