Arsonist caught, the man who burned down church and wrote Vote Trump

Source

From the locked post by @93BlackHawk93 and the source provided by @Wickerman777

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man with a prior criminal record was arrested Wednesday in the burning of an African-American church that was spray-painted with the words "Vote Trump," and the church's bishop said the man is a member of the congregation.

The state fire marshal said investigators do not believe the fire was politically motivated, but there a signs it may have been done to appear that way.

Andrew McClinton, 45, of Leland, Mississippi, is scheduled to make an initial court appearance Thursday in Greenville — the city where Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church was burned and vandalized Nov. 1, a week before the presidential election.

McClinton is charged with first degree arson of a place of worship, said Warren Strain, spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.

Hopewell Bishop Clarence Green said McClinton, who is African-American, is a member of the church. Green said he didn't know about the arrest until he was called by The Associated Press.

Why does his race matter? There were black Trump voters, a surprising amount.

I'd be more interested in his political beliefs, but apparently that does not warrant investigation because burning down a church and painting "Vote Trump" is *ehem* not politically motivated. Really?!

It matters because some people accused of White Supremacist/KKK members, Republicans, and "deplorable" Trump Supporters last month for burning down the church.

McClinton

And some people blamed a vengeful turkey and Indian for our celebration of National Turkey and Indigenous Persons Holocaust Day. Whatever.

I just think it's funny that we don't know his criminal record (just that he has one...he might be a pyro for all we know and this is just him having fun), we don't know his political beliefs...so we just sit here and go "Oh, he's black? Well obviously this is a conspiracy to frame the alt-right and get more votes for Clinton!"

Maybe it is, for all we know. But whatever, let it go.

*if you remember from the locked thread, my money was on the Lizard People

@mrbojangles25: Maybe he is a lizard person? :P Anyways, they found the culprit and it turned out to be a member of their congregation which is very low of him to do. Is he a Trump supporter? He does have court so we may find more info next year.

The full article says what he went to jail for (no mention of arson). Since we know his name and the city that he lives in, I'm sure one could easily find more detailed records if one were so inclined.

Anyway, the article says that the investigation is ongoing, so I think it's a bit premature to act like, "well, they're just assuming this isn't politically motivated without bothering to investigate it." The article says that the investigation is ongoing.

Also, the article doesn't say what leads them to believe that this man tried to make the arson look politically motivated, but they also don't say what leads them to believe that this is the guy who actually made the fire. Never mind the guy's reason for burning down the church, why not just act like they've got the wrong guy? I mean, they've clearly got SOMETHING to go on. The evidence might be flimsy and the apparent motive for the arson might be wrong, but it's not like they're gonna outline all of the evidence in a news article. If they're wrong, that'll come out at trial (or preferably, before that). But the article isn't saying "this is DEFINITELY the guy who did it and he absolutely did it in order to make it look like a Trump supporter did it, and we have no evidence for that and are just operating on assumptions." They think they've got the right guy (enough to make an arrest), they believe the arson was made to look politically motivated, and they're still continuing to investigate the matter. I don't see any reason to doubt that.

People act out but let's ignore the fact the world we live in makes zero sense. Do we really need to scratch our heads about this. The news outlets are more interested in blaming a political party than looking for a solution to prevent this.

No, it's very much the fact that he wrote "Vote Trump" on a black church that suggests that was the intention. The fact that he was black is irrelevant for inferring that intent.

There've been quite a lot of these fake "hate crimes" since the election. It seems quite clear this is why people do it. It's a way of trying to just paint the other side as evil as possible so you can try and beat them by brute force rather than having to make the effort to beat them honestly. That was pretty much Clinton's entire campaign towards the end. Trying to convince people that Trump is too dangerous.

@FireEmblem_Man: stupid people do stupid things... that's all I have to say on that matter.

Why haven't we heard from 93BlackHawk93 who posted a thread blaming the deplorable Trump supports for this with absolutely no proof they were involved.

It's a mystery!

Interesting. ..

obviously fake news.

Don't believe everything the MSM presents

@Nuck81: but it was a fake hate crime

Race shouldn't matter IF the media was genuine and sincere when reporting but since these outlets push the card well before any facts are known, it seems an obligation to set them straight when able.

The fake media claims its a fake hate crime

Meanwhile one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for whites was desecrated and got very little coverage. Go figure.

https://racingnews.co/2016/09/22/nascar-hall-of-fame-looted-charlotte-protests/

I feel like i have to constantly repeat basic.... very basic.... critical thinking conclusions when dealing with the mass of Trump and Hillary supporters. Its a lot like dealing with a creationist.

My gardener finally got sober and got into the whole 12 step thing and became obsessed with religion. One day we had a discussion about dinosaur fossils and he attempted to use an example of a faked fossil in China as evidence that all dinosaur fossils are faked. It really astounded me that a grown adult would be attempting to make this argument. Especially someone who was a dope addict given he was great at scamming people. But on this topic he had a blind side and i had to explain to a grown man that if there is money in something, someone will attempt to fake/scam/etc it and just because this happens it does not invalidate the vast majority of examples.

I feel like i have to highlight this very basic fact to many of the people who for some reason are wanting to claim that what? Racism is dead becasue a black guy burnt down a church and blamed it on white racists? That many of Trumps ideas and supporters are not obvious racists? Ever considered why this was a solid game plan to begin with? Ever consider the dozens upon dozens black churches burnt down by racists every decade? This guy faked this because its so common that he thought many would not even question it.

@kod: I remember reading a news story a few months ago about a woman who killed someone and placed an ISIS flag by their body to throw off investigators.

According to some that means ISIS must be the good guys.

This brings up a very important question. Why are you arguing with your substance abuse addled brain damaged gardener?

You have a pretty serious superiority problem when you have to one up some poor peon with a mental disability no money and a terrible boss.

Can some poor mentally handicapped person believe some stupid shit that gets him through the day? Do you really have to take that from him when he has so very little?

@Riverwolf007: Yeah why ever talk to the hired help?! Civilised people only talk to other civilised people.

We were fixing up the plants and just talking... im not exactly sure how it came up but ive always been sure to ask him how he was doing and making sure everything was going fine for him.

Right, and thats the conclusion some people reach and that ive never been able to understand how they do so. Especially when theyve already demonstrated that they can reach conclusions without falling into this silly trap.

Why attempt to destroy the guys worldview that is currently the one thing keeping him sober?

What is the point?

I had some creationist young earth types living across the street and one day one of them picked up a 25 or so million year old brachiopod fossil and wondered about it and i didn't say shit even though i knew exactly why it was there and the geologic history of the area I live in and why the area is lousy with fossilized sea life all around everywhere you go.

It was pointless to explain and would hurt their feelings so I just made small talk and went on with my life.

And those people were plenty successful and had money and were not some poor alcoholic minimum wage sod trying to get his life together with some magical fairy tales.

Nice try and all but putting this shit on me just does not work.

Why do you assume educating people will cause them to revert back to drug abuse? It's hard to not put this back on you when you apparently think so little of recovering alcohol/drug addicts that you think a simple casual debate will "destroy their world view" and take away all that he has left. He may have been an addict but he's a grown adult, it's perfectly ok for him to talk to other adults about adult things. Quit with your patronising, it helps nobody.

I assume it because alcoholics anonymous is completely wrapped up in religious belief and religious belief is a vital step in their program and how it is designed to work.

Had enough patronizing yet?

And again why does that mean he should isolate himself away from society? He's an adult, AA member or not.

You called the guy a poor sod, and KOD is apparently the one being disrespectful? You need to learn some basic common decency. I really hope you don't act like this irl.

That's probably why statistically those who do it on their own or with an actual rehab facility, tend to be far more successful in their sobriety then those who do the 12 steps. Putting a bunch of addicts in a room with no medical professionals, telling them to run the show with mythology, telling them that its not their fault and they cant control it and then telling them to be sponsored.... hook up with another addict outside of the meetings.... gee.... sounds like a successful program! No wonder the fail rate is like 90%.

That said, the whole thing was a few years ago. Today he's dropped the religious nonsense, stopped going to meetings altogether and in college for some kind of engineering algorithm degree.

Im not quite sure why you want to get into the specifics of this or argue something useless but whatever.

Lol. Of course you could never ever get how tearing some poor sap down as he is trying to figure out how to get through life is a bad thing.

Someone who has nothing.

An alcoholic minimum wage gardener whose morally superior boss has nothing better to do than tell him his belief system that his drug recovery depends on is shit.

Some of you guys are the most vapid morally bankrupt people I have ever spoken with in my life.

You put yourselves above the lowest of the low and trod them into the ground without a second thought as to the consequences of your actions. Then when called out on it make others out to be the bad guys for daring to illustrate your actions to you.

Congrats to the morally superior, well educated upper middle class guy who stood up to the stupid, delusional, destitute ex-drug addict gardener. I can see why someone would be proud to use that story to illustrate their amazing superiority.

What a piece of work. Seriously.

I'm arguing it because it is the perfect example of people huffing their own gasses to prove to themselves how superior they are.

Aww poor guy, you think people stating facts and holding to reality is them attempting to prove superior to someone else. How adorable.

Of course as already mentioned the greatest irony here is i treat him as i would any other human being, with respect and dignity. You on the other hand have attempted to degrade him every chance you get, simply because you know one thing about him, hes a addict. Which fucking sucks for him, but that does not create an alternative bubble-wrapped world for him where he only hears what he currently wants to hear.

Maybe you should stop applying your own little narrative to this and pretending that i or anyone else, has said or proclaimed something we have not. When you say things like this:

"Congrats to the morally superior, well educated upper middle class guy who stood up to the stupid, delusional, destitute ex-drug addict gardener. I can see why someone would be proud to use that story to illustrate their amazing superiority."

I cant take you seriously. Youre applying everything you want to apply with zero reason to do so.

Yeah. don't use this as an opportunity to learn anything.

Just double down.

Maybe there are some homeless pregnant women on flakka you can lecture about how dumb they are to their faces while they mop your floors or something.

Keep up the good work.

Wow. I have to say. A+ on hearing something and then creating your own fictional world around it..... congratulations. Talk about delusional... ****.

Again you're the one claiming that someones a brain damaged, destitute, lowest of the low, sod with nothing left to live for based on literally nothing other than the fact that he has addiction problems and is a gardener. Don't you see how elitist that mindset is? Not having a great job and having addiction problems does not make you a lesser person. If treating people like people and not looking down on them for being poor makes me morally bankrupt then so be it.

Sorry for believing we should help people rather than simply brushing them off as an uneducated peon too far gone for anyone to even have a casual conversation with.

Lulz. Yeah it was all about the help. That's how delusional you guys have become.

It was about tearing down someone who has less than him in order to be the superior human in the story.

"My gardener finally got sober and got into the whole 12 step thing and became obsessed with religion. One day we had a discussion about dinosaur fossils and he attempted to use an example of a faked fossil in China as evidence that all dinosaur fossils are faked. It really astounded me that a grown adult would be attempting to make this argument. Especially someone who was a dope addict given he was great at scamming people. But on this topic he had a blind side and i had to explain to a grown man that if there is money in something, someone will attempt to fake/scam/etc it and just because this happens it does not invalidate the vast majority of examples."

Here's a nice little psa for you to watch

Everything you've said so far has been pure conjecture based on your prejudices against the poor and mentally ill. KOD could have just said "I was talking to a creationist" he didn't need to bring up the guys history as it wasn't really relevant. But you took it so much further than that. It's sad how some people still think so lowly of the poor and ill, but hopefully you'll grow out of it.

Notice how i worded the first few words... "My gardener finally got sober"... he's a neighborhood kid that ive known for over a decade, since he was like 17. He comes from a fucked up house and when he offered to do some yard work for some money, okay fine. This was when he was doing shit but im not going to attempt control what the man does. If he wants to earn money and spend it on some dope, it is what it is. He then got clean and i started paying him a bit more because he was clean and he was going to college instead of hustling all day... which again, hes in college for something i cant even begin to grasp. You really need to stop with this nonsense of assumptions and projecting bullshit on me or something i said. You know nothing about me, my situation, what i have or have not done. But to give you a taste, i got my biology degree while in prison for almost four years. So, while you will question this persons mental stability and capabilities simply because hes an addict, i wont, because i wont degrade him that way because we kind of come from the same place.

Empty moral posturing does not excuse his actions and you jumping on board to defend it.

When a person is down you don't pile on the misery by telling him he is full of shit.

You're a joke if you cant simply deal with how some people word things. You've managed to draw so much from something that tells you absolutely nothing.... its..... pathetic and sad and i suggest stop doing it because your evaluation of me or my intent, has not been accurate one single time.

Yep, your anecdote about the scammy addict bible thumping creationist gardener you pay under the table as you devastate the intellectual positions his recovery depends on reeks of the respect and dignity you have for him as a fellow human being.

LMFAO, you're hilarious.

Tell me, did any of your bullshit claims happen as far as you know? Or is he actually in a better position now? So apparently simply being honest with someone is not devastating to their sobriety. But hey, as you stated before, you think hes "brain damaged and a mental handicap", of course i would never begin to suggest this. I personally dont underestimate addicts the way you seem to. Ive seen far too many highly intelligent addicts do things i could only dream of.

If you're getting any superiority complex from myself, its going to be toward you, becasue you're an idiot.

I assume you quoted me there by mistake? To elaborate when I said you didn't need to mention the guys history I mean simply because it caused this distraction and didn't add to much to what I assume was the real point of the story.

I'm going to assume Riverwolf is trolling. I know bigotry is alive and well so there's a good chance he isn't, but ignorance is bliss.

Yah that's my bad, i fixed it. Thought i had the right "deletes" but apparently not.

Wait, does burning a church have different consequences than other buildings or is this just worded poorly?

Tell yourself whatever it takes man.

I dont need to tell myself anything. Youre the one who created this fictional world and events and then applied to me simply because you didnt like how i worded something. With the wonderful irony being is of the two of us, you're the only one degrading someone with an addition.

Which btw, id love to point out that you want to sit here with your imaginary world and pretend that what? Im some super upper class person looking down on the scum of the earth.. while not paying attention to the "scum of earth" being from my... roughly 30-40k a year household (IF there are two parents working full time) neighborhood. Hes a kid from the neighborhood that i decided to help out and we have had multiple conversations about everything...which btw, hes actually asking me about things a lot of the time... fucking deal with it jackass.

Well that's a shame. I suspected the amateur tag looked suspicious. And was conveniently done with white paint.

Churches usually don't give out memberships like candy. So its pretty low for a member to burn down what is essentially a community center. For political reasons. May that church find the strength to forgive him, and move on.

What a fucking idiot.

Have you ever been to Church in the South?

They let 3 and 4 year olds become official members.

In many denominations, like the Church of Christ, a 3 year old Boy has authority over every woman in the Church.

The whole point of "Vacation Bible School" is to pervert and warp young minds into becoming Church Members.

"Johnny, do you want to accept Jesus so you can be with mommy and daddy forever and ever in Heaven, or go to Hell where your flesh will be burnt from your bones and you will roast forever in a lake of fire being tormented for eternity by evil demons?"