Fire destroys North Dakota church owned by white supremacist

A North Dakota church recently bought by a self-proclaimed white supremacist has burned to the ground, KVRR reported.

The Attorney General’s office said there isn’t any new information to release, but Craig Cobb said he knows the fire was set intentionally and believes it was a hate crime.

“I was going to turn it over to the creativity movement with a stipulation that that branch of the church be called the Donald J. Trump. … President Donald J. Trump, Creativity Church of Rome, not Nome, Rome,” Cobb told KVRR. “A little play on history there, you see.”

Cobb said he had big plans for the church, formerly known as Nome Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.

“I absolutely would have if they would have given me half a chance, which the hater did not by burning down my property,” Cobb told KVRR. “An arsonist did it, of course. That’s all, an arsonist, it’s really simple.”

Cobb was in Sherwood, North Dakota, when he received an email from an attorney about his destroyed property.

“I just want to insert that it’s a terroristic attack,” Cobb told KVRR. “I’m going to ask the DOJ and the FBI to apply hate crime charges against them too.”

Cobb is offering an award of at least $2,000 to anyone with information that can lead to the responsible party.

“I really want them caught, I really, really want them caught,” he told KVRR.