A black church in Mississippi was burned and vandalized with pro-Donald Trump graffiti late Tuesday.
Authorities responded to the fire at Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, Mississippi, Tuesday night. Delta Daily News reports that the majority of the damage was to the main sanctuary and there were no reported injuries. Someone had spray-painted the words “Vote Trump” along the side of the building.
A woman at the nearby Rose Hill Missionary Baptist Church told The Huffington Post that Hopewell is a historically black church. She said the community is in shock over what happened.
Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons called the incident “a heinous, hateful and cowardly act” in a press conference Wednesday, adding that it was “an attack on the black church and the black community.”
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Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press
The sanctuary of the church sustained the most damage.
A 27-year-old Texas man was arrested by federal authorities on Thursday for allegedly filming himself punching a 79-year-old African-American man and breaking his jaw. Authorities say the assailant was attempting to see whether a “knockout” attack on a black victim would be nationally televised.
Conrad Alvin Barrett was arrested and accused of punching the unnamed victim last month and filming the assault. Barrett allegedly showed the video to a man outside a restaurant who he didn’t realize was an off-duty investigator. In the video, the attacker approaches the elderly African-American man, asks him “How’s it going, man?” and proceeds to punch him before laughing, saying “knockout” and fleeing in a vehicle. Barett has been charged with a hate crime.
According to the federal complaint, in another video found on his cell phone, Barrett allegedly says that African-Americans “haven’t fully experienced the blessing of evolution” and uses the n-word. The complaint alleges Barrett said he had been trying to get up the “courage” to play the knockout game for a week.
A Florida man expressed indignation after being arrested July 30 for supposedly shooting a black man in the head, explaining to police that he had “only shot a n—-r,” police said.
Walton Henry Butler, 59, allegedly shot the 32-year-old Everett Gant in the head, who visited his Port Saint Joe apartment to confront him about making racist comments to children in the apartment complex, according to the Broward Palm Beach New Times. The blog reports that Butler proceeded to eat dinner as Gant lay bleeding outside his door and cites an affidavit saying that Butler used the racial slur when questioned by the sheriff.
Butler is charged with attempted murder with a hate crime enhancement.
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Walton Henry Butler, above, shot a black man in the head and expressed confusion at his arrest, telling police he had “only shot a n*gger.”
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