Both the fire and the vandalism at the Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville occurred one week before the 2016 presidential election. It caused some local residents to fear the fire could have been a hate crime. The building was a total loss.

Andrew McClinton, of Leland, MS, pleaded guilty to setting the fire in March but did not admit to spray-painting the building beforehand. Circuit Judge Margaret Carey-McCray sentenced him to 10 years in prison for arson, along with a 10-year suspended sentence with some of the suspended sentence under state supervision.

Because of his previous felony convictions for attempted armed robbery in 1997 and armed robbery in 2004, both in another part of Mississippi, McClinton will not be eligible for early release.

Washington County District Attorney Dewayne Richardson told The Associated Press that McClinton was involved in "illicit" activities at the church and set the fire to prevent fellow congregants from meeting the next day to discuss the activities.

"He was trying to hide that information from being disclosed," Richardson said.

Greenville is located about 120 miles northwest of Jackson, MS. About 78% of the city's 32,100 residents are African American.

Founded in 1905 in the heart of an African American neighborhood, the Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church has a congregation of about 200 members. A new church building has been constructed in its place using some of the old church's walls. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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