Michael Brown Sr.'s church set ablaze Monday in Ferguson
The Ferguson, Missouri, church attended by Michael Brown's father burned to the ground Monday night, and its pastor believes the fire was set by white supremacists.
Rev. Carlton Lee of the Flood Christian Church told NBC News that he was vocal about his desire to see Officer Darren Wilson arrested for the shooting death of the younger Brown. Lee thinks his church was targeted by people angry over his support of Michael Brown Sr., whom he baptized over the weekend. "Sunday, we do the baptism, Monday, the church is on fire," he said. "It just doesn't add up."
The fire was set around the same time that other conflagrations broke out around Ferguson, but it was in an area where other structures were spared, away from the rioting. Lee is vowing to rebuild, and Brown Sr. has promised to help. "I put my blood, my sweat, my tears into this church, getting this church built from the ground up," Lee said. "To see that it was taken down in a few minutes is really heartbreaking."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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