FBI Joins Hate-Crime Probe Of California Cross Burning

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (AP) — The FBI has joined a hate-crime investigation into a cross burning outside the California home of a black woman.

Arroyo Grande police Chief Steve Annibali says an 11-foot cross stolen from Saint John's Lutheran Church was shoved into the ground and set ablaze outside the bedroom window of the 19-year-old woman early Friday.

She tells the San Luis Obispo County Tribune that she woke up, saw the blazing cross and called 911.

It's being investigated as an arson and hate crime.

During a news conference Monday, Annibali told reporters that police investigators are working with the San Luis Obispo County district attorney's office, the sheriff's department, the FBI and the state Department of Justice.

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