Greenville, Mississippi police was called at Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church on 1st November 2016. Police discovered the 111-years old worship house had been damaged and set on fire. On 3rd November 2016, police department issued a statement that investigation has been initiated and there is not any update regarding the incident, but the police department has confirmed that this incident was an act of torching. It is important that the Federal Bureau of Investigation also started investigation regarding this incident. A statement issued by FBI and said that FBI Jackson Division is monitoring the situation in Greenville and we are investigating in collaboration with our federal, state and local partners of law enforcement agencies in finding any kind of involvement of civil rights crimes. The Mayor of Greenville, Errick Simmons indicated this incident as a hate crime and said that this incident should be considered a direct attack on people’s freely worship right.
He added that the investigation will be finalized as soon as possible and we will not take rest until we find factors behind this hateful incident. The account “GoFundMe” is specifically dedicated for repairing the massive damage of church and a reward is also offered for providing information about suspects. Point to be noted that Greenville is dedicated to African-American community and their internal relations are excellent with each other. But, assault on churches is not a new case due to it was also used by white supremacists during the era of Civil Rights in 1963. The 16th Street Baptist Church in Alabama also targeted by the Ku Klux Klan and 4 children were killed in the incident. Another incident took place on 15th June 2015 when a white supremacist Dylan Roof killed 9 people in a historically black church in Charleston.