Springfield, Mass. (AP) - A federal judge has denied a motion to suppress a videotaped confession by one of two white men accused of torching a predominantly black Massachusetts church in response to President Barack Obama's election.

Thomas Gleason Jr., 22, and Michael Jacques, 25, face charges of damaging religious property because of race, color or ethnic characteristics and using fire to commit a felony. The suspects and Benjamin Haskell, 22, have pleaded not guilty to federal charges they burned the Macedonia Church of God in Christ in Springfield hours after Obama was elected in November 2008.

The video shows Gleason telling investigators that he told his friends he wrote a racial epithet on the driveway of the church and set it afire.

The Springfield residents were allegedly angry about Obama's becoming the first black president.