In the report released Thursday, Schreiber admitted he set the fire Sunday night at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce.
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“What he did here he can’t do to anybody else”, he said.
He has been charged with arson, and his status as a “prison release re-offender” qualifies him for a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 30 years if convicted. His arrest affidavit contains few details of the evidence against him.
Surveillance videos from the Islamic Center as well as local business and residences also helped law enforcement with the investigation, the sheriff’s office said.
During an interview with detectives, he made statements about “Islamic extremists”, the affidavit said.
A Florida man who investigators say posted anti-Islamic material on social media was arrested on Wednesday on charges of setting fire to a mosque attended by the gunman who committed the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, police said. Mateen killed 49 people and injured more than 50 others in the June 12 attack.
Thompson said Schreiber was taken into custody on a street in Fort Pierce by authorities acting on tips from members of the community and aided by surveillance video taken from the mosque and elsewhere. He said they tried to protect Schreiber because he was frequently bullied. “He said he had no intention to hurt anyone and was embarrassed for having committed the crime”.
Wilfredo Amr Ruiz, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Florida, said Schreiber “obviously doesn’t know about the efforts our community is engaged in with our cousins, the Jews, not only in Florida but throughout the nation”. The blaze was set on September 11, the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which fell on the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha.
He wouldn’t say what he used to start the fire, investigators said.
Nefzi said that since the fire he’s felt strong community support. “We belong here; they gave us this feeling”. That combination led to Schreiber’s arrest.
Schreiber was previously sentenced twice to state prison for theft, according to records from the Florida Department of Corrections.
He was arrested in April 2010 by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office on a robbery with a weapon charge.
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Schreiber showed little emotion at his bond court hearing at the St. Lucie County courthouse during which he was wearing a protective vest as he stood at a podium flanked by a bailiff.
