A terrible arson attack on a Black church in Mississippi turns out to be yet another race-hoax perpetrated by a member of the church who tried to blame Trump supporters by spray-painting “Vote Trump” on the building.
So, that’s awkward:
A Mississippi man arrested in the burning of an African-American church that was spray-painted with the words “Vote Trump” is a member of the congregation, the church’s bishop said.
Andrew McClinton, 45, of Leland, Mississippi, was charged Wednesday with first degree arson of a place of worship, said Warren Strain, spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. McClinton is African-American.
McClinton was arrested in Greenville, where Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church was burned and vandalized Nov. 1, a week before the presidential election.
Hopewell Bishop Clarence Green said McClinton is a member of the church. Green said he didn’t know about the arrest until he was called by The Associated Press.
“This is the first I have heard of it,” said Green, who said he was attending to other church duties and didn’t have time for a longer interview.
This attack on his own church was made a week before the election, giving the media more fodder to assign racism to Trump and his followers.
Even Hillary went on Twitter to make sure to make the most of the tragedy:
The perpetrators who set the Hopewell M.B. Church in MS on fire must be brought to justice. This kind of hate has no place in America. -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 3, 2016
Check out this insanity from the Daily Beast, just days before the election:
Hillary Clinton immediately took to Twitter to condemn the act, saying, “This kind of hate has no place in America.” It was signed “H” to show it was from Clinton herself. But when it came to the burning of a black church in his own name, Trump’s little fingers didn’t touch his favorite means of reaching millions of supporters, Twitter. Instead, his campaign issued a boilerplate statement.
So these are stakes of this election: a potential president who would not even condemn in his own words terrorism done in his own name.
Kinda pathetic, huh?
And the real problem is that this kind of hoax inures decent people into believing everything is a conspiracy, and when real attacks happen, they dismiss them out of hand. That’s why the social effect of this kind of lie is much more despicable than the mere act itself, which is awful enough.