article_snippet: civil rights activist was running for office at the time of the fires, which were six years apart and in separate buildings in New York.
article_snippet: According to the National Review Online, the first fire happened in 1997 as Reverend Al Sharpton was running for mayor while the second happened while Reverend Al Sharpton was running for president in 2003.
article_snippet: The first blaze, on April 10, 1997 - five days before Tax Day - started in a hair and nail salon below Sharpton’s headquarters at West 125th Street in New York and investigators treated it as an arson/explosion case.
article_snippet: On January 23, 2003, a fire caused extensive damage in the offices of Reverend Al Sharpton non-profit organisation National Action Network on Madison Avenue.
article_snippet: The civil rights activist (pictured) was running for office at the time of the fires, which were six years apart and in separate buildings in New York .
highlights_snippet: Reverend Al Sharpton was running for office at the time of both of the fires .
  
highlights_snippet: One broke out below New York offices in 1997 as Reverend Al Sharpton was running for mayor .
  
highlights_snippet: The second happened in 2003 at the offices of Reverend Al Sharpton National Action Network .
  