Member Charged in Arson of Black Church With ‘Vote Trump’ Scrawled on Side

Andrew McClinton, 45, of Leland, Miss., was charged with arson of a place of worship in the first degree, a felony, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety said.CreditMississippi Department of Public Safety, via Associated Press

The authorities charged a man on Wednesday with setting fire last month to a predominantly African-American church in Greenville, Miss., where “Vote Trump” was found spray-painted on the side of the building.

The man, Andrew McClinton, 45, of Leland, Miss., was charged with arson of a place of worship in the first degree, a felony, Warren Strain, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, said in an interview on Wednesday.

Mr. McClinton, who is black, was a member of the church, Hopewell Missionary Baptist, at the time of the fire on Nov. 1, Mr. Strain said.

The church sanctuary was heavily damaged by heat, fire and smoke. The 200-member church has been a fixture for more than 110 years in Greenville, a Mississippi Delta city of about 32,000 that is around 120 miles north of Jackson, Miss.

Mr. McClinton appeared voluntarily at the Greenville Police Department, where he made statements that implicated him in the crime on Wednesday, Mr. Strain said. He did not have a lawyer as of Wednesday night and was to make his first court appearance on Thursday.

Noting that the investigation was continuing, Mr. Strain declined to discuss a possible motive for the arson or how investigators linked him to it.

The fire was set a week before Election Day, but a state official said the authorities did not believe it was motivated by politics.

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“Vote Trump” was spray-painted on the side of Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, Miss., which was badly damaged by fire last month. CreditRogelio V. Solis/Associated Press..

“There may have been some efforts to make it appear politically motivated,” Mike Chaney, who is the Mississippi insurance commissioner and the state fire marshal, told The Associated Press.

Firefighters responding to a call around 9:15 p.m. Nov. 1 found the church engulfed in flames. It took about an hour to extinguish the fire. No one was injured.

Officials from the church could not be immediately reached on Wednesday.

After the fire, Hopewell congregants began worshiping at the First Baptist Church of Greenville, a predominantly white congregation. The bishop at Hopewell, Clarence Green, said last month that the generosity of First Baptist demonstrated that “unlimited love” transcended social barriers.

P.C: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/us/mississippi-church-fire.html