Craig Cobb Plans to Rebuild North Dakota Church, This Time Named After Trump
A fire in the middle of night聽seems to have thwarted Craig Cobb's efforts to build a racist church in Nome, North Dakota. And he's steaming mad with聽plans to build a new church,聽this time named after the president.听
When it comes to establishing a racist foothold in North Dakota,聽Craig Cobb聽just cannot catch a break.
Last week, a church he bought in Nome, North Dakota,聽to build a Creativity Movement聽chapel burned to the ground in what investigators believe may have been聽arson. The fire happened on March 22, the same day a local newspaper ran a story on Cobb鈥檚 plans to turn the church into a gathering place for the racist Creativity Movement.听
A self-styled religious organization, the Creativity Movement promotes what it sees as the inherent superiority and "creativity" of the white race. Its adherents believe that race, not religion, is the embodiment of absolute truth and that the white race is the highest expression of culture and civilization.
Cobb has reacted to the fire with anger and warnings that he may rebuild the building, this time with a special name.听
鈥淭he President Donald J. Trump Creativity Church of Rome,鈥� Cobb told the (New York) on Tuesday. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the name, because it鈥檚 beautiful. President Trump is like a god emperor, can do no wrong.鈥澛燭hat term, 鈥済od emperor,鈥� has gained popularity on the racist right, which views President Trump as an advocate for the movement鈥檚 fears.
Cobb has spent years trying to establish racist enclaves. At least two North Dakota towns have seen Cobb come come through,聽most famously in 2013 when he bought more than a dozen properties in Leith聽for just a few hundred dollars, hoping to attract other racists to the area.
After terrorizing Leith for months, an ordeal detailed in the documentary , Cobb was arrested after he paraded聽through the streets with a rifle. He was originally charged with seven felony counts of terrorizing, which would have carried a maximum sentence of 30 years, but聽was sentenced to four years probation in 2014.
It's unclear what Cobb plans to do next, though he has a long history of relentlessly antagonizing his enemies.听But, for their part,聽residents seem relieved the fire may have聽thwarted his plans.听
鈥淓veryone is relieved that this building that meant so much is聽not going to be used by him,鈥� the Rev. Bradley Edin, a Lutheran pastor in the area, told .听
