Katie Mettler reports for the WaPo:
When the historic black church in Greenville, Miss., first burned last month, many, including the city mayor, speculated that the intentionally lit fire was a hate crime.
It was a particularly tense time in America, just a week before the bitterly divisive 2016 presidential election came to a close. Then-candidate and now President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on building a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border and banning Muslims from the United States -- or, at the very least, aggressively vetting Muslims seeking entry to the country. A prominent newspaper of the Ku Klux Klan offered a de facto endorsement of Trump and he secured the support of the KKK's former grand wizard, David Duke."Secured" is an exceptionally poor choice of words there. It implies that Trump sought this endorsement when the truth is nothing of the sort. But let's go on.
Among African Americans, Trump polled with low support.Turns out it wasn't.
All this led church and community leaders to believe that, when they found the words "Vote Trump" spray-painted on the outside of the charred, 111-year-old Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, the fire was a political act.
But the Wednesday arrest of a man with a criminal record, 45-year-old Andrew McClinton, quickly dispelled those assumptions.May have been? Okay, he's being cautious.
McClinton, church and law enforcement officials told the Associated Press, is an African American member of the burned church. According to authorities, the blaze was not motivated by the presidential race.
"We do not believe it was politically motivated," Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, who is also the fire marshal, told the AP. "There may have been some efforts to make it appear politically motivated."
This is not to say that hate crimes are not real or that they do not cause damage above and beyond the elements of the basic offense. They are and do. I wrote a brief in support of the constitutionality of hate crime laws in Wisconsin v. Mitchell, for which I took a bit of heat, but I stand by it. That said, we need to be cautious about jumping to conclusions. The truth of a crime is not always what appears at first blush.
Is it any wonderTrump has decided to take on the press so forcefully?
"All this led [The Mayor and] church and community leaders to believe that ..
the fire was a political act. Turns out it wasn't"
~Turns out it WAS":
This is one of a number of Hate Hoaxes carried out by Democrats, on the
political left., e.g.
=== ===
MN: 'UMinn student Kathy Mirah Tu's claim of accosting by white men &
"go back to Asia" dropped'..
MI:"Muslim Student Lied About Man Threatening to Burn Her Hijab"..
IL: 'North Park U coed's harrassing messages and notes on Trump "fabricated" according to University Pres'..
NY: "College Sudent Jasskirat Sini admits to Nazi ‘Hate Crime’
Blamed on Trump Supporters"..
NY: 'Yasmin Seweid charged with false report after claiming harrasment
by 3 white Trump supporters'
UK-NY: 'Muslim YouTube Star Saleh Kicked Off Plane After Faking Islamophobia'
NC: 'Hateful note which read "Bye Bye Latinos Hasta La Vista" actually written
by Latino student'
LA: 'LPD said Muslim woman who claimed attack "admitted that she fabricated
the story about her physical attack as well as the removal of her hijab and
wallet by two white males."
==============
Ironically, the "black member of the congregation" caused this result:
"After the fire, Hopewell congregants began worshipping in a chapel at
predominantly white First Baptist Church of Greenville. "
~www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/12/fake-hate-arsonist-painted-vote-trump-
black-church-black-member-congregation/; hotair.com/archives/2016/12/21/
another-hijab-hoax-university-of-michigan-student-claimed-man-threatened-
to-set-her-on-fire/; www.foxnews.com/us/2016/12/21/growing-list-post-
election-hate-crimes-turn-out-to-be-hoaxes.html
Thanks for keeping track of these fabricated hate hoaxes by Democrats and their minions.
For some reason, neither the Southern Poverty Law Center nor the Obama Justice Department seem interested in this pernicious, lawless activity.