‘White Lives Matter’ Member Who Threw Molotov Cocktails at Church Hosting Drag Event Pleads Guilty to Arson Charges

A man in Ohio has pleaded guilty to attempting to burn a church down with Molotov cocktails because it was planning on hosting drag show events.

Aimenn D. Penny, 20, tried to set fire to the Community Church of Chesterland in Chesterland, Ohio on March 25 according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. This is a violation of the Church Arson Prevention Act, the release adds. Penny pleaded guilty on October 23.

“Angered by the church’s plan to host two drag events the following weekend, Penny threw two Molotov cocktails at the church, hoping to burn it to the ground,” the DOJ press release says. “Through Penny’s guilty plea, he admitted to using force through fire and explosives, intending to obstruct CCC congregants in their enjoyment and expression of their religious beliefs.”

In an affidavit, the FBI said that local police had found broken parts of a Corona beer and Denaka vodka glass bottles, along with painter's tape, fabric, and traces of gasoline at the church. They also found "a burnt matchstick and a blue plastic spray bottle filled with gasoline" near the entrance.

FBI said that Penny is connected to the White Lives Matter group, which is “a group with racist, pro-Nazi, and homophobic views.” Penny was pictured at a protest of a drag event in Wadsworth, Ohio on March 11.

At the March protest, Penny was “wearing military-style gear including camouflage pants, a tactical vest, and jacket with a patch showing a firearm,” according to the FBI. White Lives Matter protestors at that event carried “swastika flags” and shouted “racial and homophobic slurs and ‘Heil Hitler,” the FBI added.

“Attempting to burn down the Community Church of Chesterland for their support of the LGBTQI+ community is reprehensible,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is quoted saying in the DOJ press release. “There is no room in this country for such bias-motivated violence and terror, and the Justice Department will continue to protect all Americans in their free exercise of religious beliefs by vigorously prosecuting those who target houses of worship. Our churches should be safe havens for all people, not sites subjected to violence motivated by hate and vitriol.”

“Mr. Penny admitted to attempting to burn down a church because he did not like the way congregants chose to express their beliefs,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division in the release. “Such acts of extremist violence are antithetical to core American values of freedom of expression and worship and we will not tolerate those who would use force to deny our citizens the free exercise of their rights.”

Media reports at the time reported that the church was damaged with "scorch marks" on the door and "burn marks" on the wall, according to News 5 Cleveland.

Penny’s sentencing is scheduled for January 29, 2024 and he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for violating the Church Arson Prevention Act and “a 10-year mandatory prison sentence that will run consecutively with any other prison term imposed for using fire to commit a federal felony,” according to the DOJ.