Marc Lamparello has been identified as the 37-year-old man who was arrested by NYPD Counterterrorism officers after walking into the historic St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City with two gasoline cans just days after a fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Lamparello was taken into custody without incident at the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York in midtown Manhattan Wednesday night, NBC New York reports.
Lamparello is a Boston College-educated philosophy professor who has been involved in the Catholic Church in the past. According to a bio for a recently published book he wrote, “A native of New Jersey, Marc Lamparello studied philosophy at Boston College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 2004. Marc has been heavily engaged in the study of philosophy from an early age, and is currently working on two other book-length projects, including a witty dialogue on arguments for and against the existence of God, and a series of essays on the epistemology of practical motivation.”
Lamparello had a “one-way ticket” from Newark Airport to Rome and was set to depart Thursday night, the New York Daily News reports. His father told the newspaper that his son is a “brilliant” professor and sounded normal on the phone just hours before the incident. “Extremely out of character. He’s a brilliant professor. His writings — other professors can’t even understand his writings. Something happened, we don’t know. I spoke to him (Wednesday) morning. It was just, ‘Hi daddy, how are you feeling?’ Then last night was like what the hell? That’s all I can tell you.”
According to WABC-TV, Lamparello was arrested for refusing to leave a New Jersey cathedral on Monday because he wanted to pray.
No one was injured and there was no damage to the Neo-Gothic-style cathedral, which has stood as a symbol of the Roman Catholic Church in the heart of Manhattan since 1879. The incident comes two days after a tragic fire caused massive damage to the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. The cause of the Paris fire remains under investigation, but authorities believe it was accidental and possibly connected to ongoing renovation work at the cathedral.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral is located on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets across the street from Rockefeller Center in one of the busiest areas of Manhattan. According to police, the incident occurred about 7:55 p.m. A heavy police presence remained at the cathedral as an investigation took place Wednesday night. The church was open and people were inside at the time of the incident.
“It’s too early to say that. It’s hard to say what exactly his intentions were,” Deputy Commissioner John Miller said at a briefing when asked if the incident was believed to be terrorism. “But I think the totality of circumstances of an individual walking into an iconic location like St. Patrick’s Cathedral, carrying over four gallons of gasoline, two bottles of lighter fluid and lighters is something that we would have great concern over. His story is not consistent. So he is in conversation with detectives right now. I think if you add to that the events in the iconic location, the fire of Notre Dame this week and all the publicity around that.” Miller said Lamparello did not mention the Notre Dame fire during his initial interaction with officers.
Lamparello and his family could not be reached for comment by Heavy.
“I’ve come to trust what we’ve got at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, not that we can ever take it for granted. Last night proves that it works. We’ve got a very well trained interior security staff, we’ve got the constant help of the NYPD, which usually has an officer on the block for ready assistance, we’ve got the ready attention of the FDNY,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan said in a statement. “Does that mean its fail safe? No, but that’s why we come to church to pray for God’s protection.”
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