Historically black church in Mississippi set ablaze, vandalized with ‘Vote Trump’

[forest444]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by uppityperson (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: TPM

A historically black church in Greenville, Mississippi was set on fire and vandalized with graffiti reading “vote Trump” on Tuesday night.

“It is being investigated as a hate crime,” Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons told TPM on Wednesday, calling the incident at Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church a “hateful and cowardly act.”

“This is a direct assault on people’s right to freely worship,” Simmons added. “We are going to investigate the matter with all deliberate speed and will not rest until the perpetrator is arrested and prosecuted.”

Simmons said the Greenville Fire and Police Departments, the local district attorney and the Washington County Sheriff’s office, in addition to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Jackson branch of the FBI, were collectively investigating the fire.

No suspect has yet been identified.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/black-church-mississippi-burned-vandalized-vote-trump

[Judi Lynn]

1. Hope this will be prosecuted to the fullest. Hateful, hateful idiots. n/t

[forest444]

4. It's almost a fact of daily life in Mississippi.

I lived there for a few years, and frankly lost count of the mentions of black church arson/bombings I remember seeing in the news. One of the firebombed churches had held a wedding I was invited to just a year earlier; it was a stone church but was burnt to the ground because the Fire Department took forever to get there.

The neighborhood Fire Department was just a few blocks away.

I recall 1994 being particularly severe as far as these incidents, although they're definitely making a comeback. And it almost always ended the same way: as an "unsolved crime of indeterminate motive."

If hell does indeed exist, there must be a special spot for miscreants that burn down a church simply because of the race of those who worship therein.

Thanks for your reply, Judi.

[Rex]

2. Settle down Trumpkins! Already chomping at the bit to cause misery and mayhem.

These folks are such basic creatures that their lust for Trump is similar to their love for the culture of death.

[forest444]

7. These neo-confederates will probably never stop firebombing black churches.

I posted a personal anecdote to the effect just above, if you're interested. I was in my teens at the time; but I'll never forget how painful it was to see such a welcoming and quaint little church be destroyed - especially since it was clear to everyone that the guilty would never be caught (or frankly, even investigated).

At least no one was hurt.

[PSPS]

3. This was already posted in LBN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141613640

[forest444]

5. Thanks for letting me know.

My apologies; I searched for it on the LBN log but couldn't find it. Should have typed 'Greenville'.

[allan01]

6. iam so sick of this . i feel for those people. dont get me started.

[forest444]

8. And the worst part is, the miscreants know they'll probably never be caught.

I lived in Mississippi for a number of years, and I can't tell you how "confused" local police and the DA get whenever a black church or fraternity is firebombed - or how "slow" the Fire Department seems to be at getting there every time it happens.

It's America - but barely.

[uppityperson]

9. Locking as a duplicate. Thanks for understanding. Here's the link to the earlier thread

LBN allows only 1 thread/incident, sorry about that.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141613640