White Supremacist Arrested for 2019 Arson at Civil Rights Landmark That Trained Rosa Parks

Federal authorities have arrested Regan Prater in connection with the 2019 arson that destroyed a historic building at the Highlander Research and Education Center, a Tennessee institution known for its role in civil rights organizing. According to an affidavit filed in federal court, Prater—linked to white supremacist groups through group chats—allegedly bragged about setting the fire using “a sparkler bomb and some Napalm” under the alias “Rooster.” A white-power “triple cross” symbol, also used by the Christchurch mosque shooter, was found spray-painted near the scene, strengthening suspicions of a hate-motivated attack.

The March 29, 2019, blaze gutted a building that housed invaluable archives, artifacts, and historical documents tied to the Black freedom movement. “Every time the wind blew, we would see what was left of it go up in flames again, for weeks,” said Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, then co-director of Highlander. She described years of frustration with what felt like investigative silence: “We were told that it was like finding a needle in the haystack… Frankly, for years, we didn’t get any updates.” It wasn’t until 2022 that the FBI confirmed to Highlander’s leadership that they had been victims of a hate crime.

Highlander has been a central node in social justice struggles since its founding in 1932. Civil Rights leaders like Rosa Parks, John Lewis, and Martin Luther King Jr. had direct connections to the center. “That paved the way for Highlander’s work around the Civil Rights Movement, or the Black Freedom Struggle, as we should rightly call it,” said current co-executive director Allyn Steele. John Lewis once recalled Highlander as the first place he saw “Black people and white people… doing the dishes together.”

Despite the attack, Highlander has not wavered in its mission. “If their goal was to break our spirit, they failed miserably,” Woodard Henderson said. With its rebuilt office nearing completion in its 93rd year, the center continues to serve as a beacon for grassroots resistance and multiracial coalition-building.

Link: AP News