Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said it was a “horrible tragedy not only for the Islamic center but for our community”.
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“Right now, I don’t want to speculate on a motive”, Thompson said.
He said “evidence has revealed that this fire was set intentionally”.
He decried what he called escalating violence directed at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, where Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen once attended.
They do say they plan to start using the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce as a place of worship again as soon as they are able.
A surveillance video from the mosque showed a man on a motorcycle approaching the building with a bottle of liquid and some papers, then leaving when there was a flash and shaking his hand as though he may have burned it, Thompson said.
The 29-year-old USA citizen of Afghan origin opened fire at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando on June 12, killing 49 people and injuring 53 more.
The Fort Pierce mosque’s gathering on Monday was moved “to another area and they’re going to allow us to conduct our investigation so we can hopefully determine who set it”, Thompson said.
David Thompson says given the circumstances – the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and the beginning of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha – officials believe the intentionally-set fire could be a hate crime.
Photographs posted on the sheriff department’s Facebook page showed fire engines parked in front of the building, which is a former church, with the facade appearing undamaged.
The mosque is on a fairly busy two-lane road in a mostly residential neighborhood.
The Council on American Islamic Relations says they don’t know if this attack was purposely done on the start of their religious holiday, but they call the arson a hate crime nonetheless.
Ruiz noted that after the shootings the center received threatening voicemails. Sheriff’s officials released the video and asked for the public’s help in identifying the arsonist.
The mass shooting was the deadliest in modern USA history.
Officials say the mosque has had other trouble since the Orlando attack.
Authorities in Florida are investigating a fire at a mosque that was attended by the gunman in the deadly Orlando nightclub shooting.
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The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced in a statement today that special agents from its field office in Fort Pierce and certified fire investigators from its Miami field division are assisting the FBI and that the arson is being treated as a hate crime. Firefighters extinguished the fire.
