Tina Johnson, one of the early accusers of Judge Roy Moore, has been burned out of her home.
Arson is suspected.
Tina Johnson, who first came to public notice for accusing Senate candidate Roy Moore of grabbing her in his office in the early 1990s, said her home on Lake Mary Louise Road in Gadsden caught fire Tuesday morning.
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"I am devastated, just devastated," said Johnson on Friday morning. "We have just the clothes on our backs."
Thankfully nobody was hurt, as Tina and her husband were both at work, while their grandson was at school.
The fire began on Tuesday morning.
"That fire is still under investigation by the Etowah County Arson Task Force," said Natalie Barton, public information officer with the Etowah County Sheriff's Department. "A suspect of interest is being spoken to. But there have been no charges, to my knowledge, related to the fire at this time."
That suspect? Likely a young man, with “a history of public intoxication” who was wandering around the property, all while issuing predictions that the Johnson property was at risk of burning down.
She said a woman neighbor told her that the young man in question approached her as she was getting in her car that morning and asked if she thought Johnson's house was going to burn. The neighbor didn't know what he was talking about, she said, because flames weren't visible at the time.
No smoke without fire, and right now no charges filed; but this sounds a lot like it could be the act of a disgruntled political loser.
As noted by commenter BMScott below — the Etowah County Sheriff Department spokesperson Natalie Barton issued a statement late this afternoon in which they downplay possible tie-ins between the possible arson and politics.
Barton later released a statement, saying, "The ongoing investigation does not lead us to believe that the fire is in any way related to Roy Moore or allegations made against him. More details will be released when warrants are obtained."