The Latest: Man arrested in arson is member of burned church
JACKSON, Miss. – The Latest on an arrest in a Mississippi church burning (all times local):
3:10 p.m.
The bishop of an African-American church Mississippi that was burned and spray-painted with the words "Vote Trump" says the man arrested in the case is a member of the church.
Police in Greenville on Wednesday arrested 45-year-old Andrew McClinton of Leland, Mississippi, and charged him with first degree arson of a place of worship.
Bishop Clarence Green of Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church tells The Associated Press that McClinton is a member of the church.
Green says he did not know about the arrest until AP called him.
The church was burned and vandalized Nov. 1, a week before the presidential election.
It was not immediately clear whether McClinton is represented by an attorney.
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2:37 p.m.
Mississippi authorities have arrested a man in the burning of an African-American church that was also spray-painted with the words, "Vote Trump."
Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain says Andrew McClinton of Leland, Mississippi, who is African-American, is charged with first degree arson of a place of worship.
McClinton was arrested Wednesday. Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, Mississippi, was burned and vandalized Nov. 1, a week before the presidential election.
It was not immediately clear whether McClinton is represented by an attorney.
Greenville is a Mississippi River port city of about 32,100 people, and about 78 percent of its residents are African-American.
After the fire, Hopewell congregants began worshipping in a chapel at predominantly white First Baptist Church of Greenville.