A member of a neo-Nazi group was arrested Friday after attempting to burn down a church in Ohio that was planning to host a drag show event, according to court documents. Aimenn D. Penny, 20, of Alliance, Ohio, has been charged in the US District Court in Cleveland with one count of malicious use of explosive materials and one count of possessing a destructive device, according to a criminal complaint. Authorities claim Penny used “Molotov cocktails against the Community Church of Chesterland in Chesterland, Ohio, in an attempt to burn the church to the ground,” the Department of Justice said in a press release. “As alleged in the charging documents, the defendant used an explosive device to cause harm to a church he found objectionable,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said in the release. “It is the solemn duty of the Department of Justice to safeguard the right of all Americans to free expression, and I commend the work of law enforcement in this matter.”
siehe auch: FBI: Alliance suspect in attempted church bombing part of pro-Nazi group Penny stated that he believed African Americans were solely responsible for the high crime rate across the country, according to the FBI affidavit. An Alliance man accused of firebombing a Geauga County church planning to host a drag show belongs to an organization that espouses racist, pro-Nazi, and homophobic views. Federal authorities arrested 25-year-old Aimenn Penny on Friday on charges of malicious use of explosive materials and possessing a destructive device. According to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, Penny confessed to using Molotov cocktails against the Community Church of Chesterland to burn the church to the ground on March 25.