Given the timing of the blaze, investigators believe it may have been a hate crime, St. Lucie County sheriff’s spokesman Maj.
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Schreiber had anti-Muslim content on his computer and social media accounts, deputies said.
The Islamic Center of Fort Pierce sustained extensive damage in a fire set late Sunday on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Authorities have arrested a man in the arson that heavily damaged the Florida mosque Orlando nightclub gunman Omar Mateen occasionally attended.
Schreiber was still being questioned by investigators, Thompson said.
“Just like on June 12, when I was stressing that Mateen’s actions do not speak on behalf of Islam, I know that whatever religion Mr. Schreiber is, his actions do not speak on behalf of his religion”, Saleh said.
Mateen was killed by law enforcement officers after shooting 49 people to death and wounding 53 others in June at a gay nightclub in Orlando, about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Fort Pierce.
He is then seen running from the building while appearing to be carrying a “paper and a bottle of some type of liquid”, police said in a statement.
If convicted, Schreiber faces 30 years in prison. Firefighters were called to the mosque at 12:31 a.m., and it took them five hours to extinguish the fire.
Federal authorities are also investigating the fire for any potential violations of federal law, USA officials said.
Schreiber could also be charged with a civil rights violation as the investigation continues, according to the FBI. Sheriff’s officials had released the video and asked for the public’s help in identifying the arsonist. We never hear any stupid things coming out from anybody.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said the house of worship had received threats before, and offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest along with $5,000 from theFlorida Advisory Committee on Arson Prevention.
Mosque leaders say they’ve gotten several calls from people offering their support. And in July, he said, a member was punched in the face as he arrived for morning prayers.
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According to Islamic Center of Fort Pierce Assistant Imam Hamaad Rahman, the Muslim community is more than a building and this tragedy will bring them closer.
