Mississippi church member arrested in 'Vote Trump' arson, stirs divisive speculations

Authorities arrested and charged a Mississippi man with the burning of an African-American church, which was spray-painted with "Vote Trump." The community surrounding the church and online spectators are divided in how they view the incident.

Forty-five-year-old Andrew McClinton of Leland, Mississippi was charged with first-degree arson of a place of worship. He was arrested on Wednesday and made his first court appearance on Thursday.

On Nov. 1, a week prior to the U.S. presidential election, Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church was torched and vandalized. The church, which has been around for 110 years, was heavily damaged.

McClinton voluntarily turned himself in at the Greenville Police Department and gave statements that implicated himself in the arson incident. The suspect, who is also a member of the congregation, has since requested a public defender.

Meanwhile, the community surrounding the church and people following the investigation are divided in terms of how they viewed the incident. Greenville Mayor Errick D. Simmons urged authorities to investigate it as a possible hate crime.

Greenville resident and former police officer Chris Orr, however, stated that the mayor's suggestion that the incident be investigated as a hate crime may be unwarranted. "Classifying this as a hate crime of a 'historically black church in a black community' before the investigation even got going good was basically profiling the suspect as a white person, whether he directly said it or not," Orr stated, as reported by The Star.

Simmon's twin brother, Democratic state Sen. Derrick Simons, defended the mayor's approach, considering "There is a dark past in America and in the Deep South regarding the burning of African-American churches."

Nonetheless, no hate crime charges have been filed as of report writing.

Even though the church was vandalized with "Vote Trump" and that it took place a week before the election, authorities investigating the incident did find an indication that the crime was politically motivated.

"We do not believe it was politically motivated. There may have been some efforts to make it appear politically motivated," said Mississippi Insurance Commissioner and fire marshal Mike Chaney, per Associated Press (via ABC News)

Meanwhile, James Nichols, senior pastor at First Baptist, called for prayer for the people concerned in the incident and the investigation. He also advised against making speculations, and instead, let the justice system determine whether McClinton is guilty of the crime.