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FLASHBACK: Newcasters Ridiculed Idea Miss. Church Burning Wasn’t A Hate Crime

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Blake Neff Reporter
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The arrest of a black suspect in the burning of a black Mississippi church has left egg on the faces of The Young Turks, which last month ridiculed the possibility the attack wasn’t a hate crime.

Andrew McClinton of Greenville was arrested by police Wednesday and charged with first degree arson of a place of worship for allegedly torching Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church. McClinton, who is a parishioner at Hopewell, is accused  of setting the church on fire Nov. 1 and defacing its outer wall with the message “Vote Trump.”

Based on his Facebook page, McClinton appears to be a fan of Donald Trump’s Facebook page, but even if the man does support Trump politically, police say they do not believe the attack was politically motivated. Instead, they suggested the man simply wanted it to appear that way.

And that’s unfortunate for online news broadcast The Young Turks, whose hosts ridiculed the possibility the attack was not a hate crime.

“Well, it could be a Democrat! It could be a liberal! You don’t know!” host Cenk Uygur jeered with dripping sarcasm.

“It could be Black Lives Matter, though perhaps not,” added host John Iadarola. “Vote Trump, very clear political message there.”

Iadarola later described the fire as a “terrorist attack,” while Uygur described the attack as the latest example of white terrorism against blacks in the American South.

Ironically, Uygur also complained that their broadcast would be the last thing anybody heard about the church fire, saying the attack would entirely fade away without any further media attention.

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