Lafayette County man charged with making terrorist threats against church

A Lafayette County man was charged with making terrorist threats against a local church. According to the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office, Joe Cheney is out on $10,000 bond following his Dec. 29 arrest.

Oasis Church of All Nations pastor Micah Mitchell told FOX13 Cheney visited the church with a family member. At some point during the service, Mitchell said, Cheney started causing a disturbance in the sanctuary.

“He began making obscene gestures and cursing and things like that towards the pastor that was preaching and he got up and left,” Mitchell said.

According to the church’s security team, Cheney started making threats in the foyer.

‘We don’t want him to any time feel they are not welcome. He turned around and he made threatening comments about our church to our security team. We asked him to kindly leave. We never did anything to make him feel not welcome,” said Mitchell.

A few days later, the church filed a complaint as a matter of caution. Cheney was arrested after that.

“We are honestly praying for the guy and want the best for him.”

FOX13 tracked down Cheney in Abbeville, Mississippi. He didn’t want to talk, but said he would speak after he had his day in court.

The church said they’ve installed new security cameras since the incident. They also said that Cheney has been warned by the court not to trespass on the property.

Source: Fox 13