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 per cent of its residents are African-American.

After the fire, Hopewell congregants began worshipping in a chapel at predominantly white First Baptist Church of Greenville.