As a matter of fact, yes, lightning does strike white churches. As the Los Angeles Times recently reported, one house of worship that’s been routinely counted among the rash of black church burnings is a white church the county fire chief is “98 percent sure” was caused by a lightning strike.
Also almost certainly started by a lightning strike, it was announced today, was the fire that gutted the Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greeleyville, S.C., on Tuesday.
Apparently Governor Haley in SC just said definitively the fire in Greeleyville was caused by lightning.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 1, 2015
@chrislhayes how does she know?
— ☔BlackPeopleAreHuman♿ (@SparrowOnTheEye) July 1, 2015
@chrislhayes And she knows this HOW?
Did God tell her?— Dilligaf (@dilligaf0) July 1, 2015
https://twitter.com/KrishelleMH/status/616362405358997505
https://twitter.com/Stefan_BC/status/616362197254569984
@chrislhayes I feel like there's been an uncanny amount of lightning, specifically hitting black churches in the South, these past few weeks
— Big Left (Justin) (@BListPundit) July 1, 2015
@chrislhayes hmmmm. Really!!! me thinks she screams 'act of god', a little too loudly….
— DC C (@1972Doc) July 1, 2015
https://twitter.com/E3NA/status/616362466285588482
Investigators suspect lightning may have caused fire at Mount Zion AME Church in South Carolina, FBI officials say. http://t.co/37rULb91RM
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) July 1, 2015
CNN also reports that lightning is the primary suspect: “A forensics report of lightning strikes by CNN meteorologists shows four strikes occurred in the immediate vicinity of the church, all at 7:18 p.m. ET Tuesday.”
@cnnbrk @CNN
This is a lie. I'm pretty sure this is bullshit. NAACP or some org go in with experts and investigate threats and fires.— BMPcharlotte (@BMPcharlotte) July 1, 2015
https://twitter.com/nomorecloseness/status/616280374952525824
@cnnbrk STOP DOING THAT. LIGHTNING? STOP THINKING PEOPLE ARE STUPID.
— Mario (@marioinhydepark) July 1, 2015
https://twitter.com/johnnysilva79/status/616294268823474176
https://twitter.com/BarrettWeed/status/616271150155476992
Kudos to Jesse Jackson for exercising restraint and referring to “church fires” and not “church burnings” or arson.
The church fires in South Carolina will not burn the rhythm of God nor will they destroy our faith. #Prayer pic.twitter.com/DvBlo8pBaD
— Rev Jesse Jackson Sr (@RevJJackson) July 1, 2015
ABC News 4 today has an extensive, must-read list of recent church fires and the status of the investigation into each. Some are being investigated as arson, others vandalism, while others have been ruled out as electrical fires. While many complained that the media was willfully ignoring the rash of church fires, the media is now compelled to report on every church fire, perpetuating the belief that someone must be behind them.
No, there is no black church arson "epidemic." MSM perpetuates false SPLC-driven narrative…again==> http://t.co/JDRUvXjff8
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) July 1, 2015
Michelle Malkin writes in her column today:
The last thing the community and our country need are hysterical journalists compounding the pain with inflammatory reporting on an unsubstantiated “epidemic” of black church arsons.
…
Reminder: Several of the hyped hate crimes against black churches had been committed by black suspects; a significant number of the black churches were, in fact, white churches; and the complex motives behind the crimes included mental illness, vandalism and concealment of theft.
Once again, falsified history is repeating itself.
* * *
Update:
The fire chief says he doesn’t know where the governor got her information.
https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/616382826427060224
Which leads us to ask: Where did Chris Hayes get his information? MSNBC?
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