The mosque was where Omar Mateen worshiped before he shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 others at a gay nightclub in Orlando in June.
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“A search warrant was obtained and a search of Schreiber’s house was conducted that revealed Schreiber owns a motorcycle consistent with the surveillance video footage”, says Major David R. Thompson, director of law enforcement for the Sheriff’s Office, in a statement.
Authorities said Schreiber has made anti-Islamic comments on his Facebook page.
The presiding judge cited postings on Schreiber’s Facebook page, which appear to be anti-Islamic, as part of the reason prosecutors have enhanced the arson charge to a hate crime.
Alfonso said the 32-year-old Schreiber joined the Messianic Jewish congregation he led at the Lawtey Correctional Institution.
Thompson said detectives are still investigating whether anyone else was involved in the arson.
The FBI is continuing its investigation to see if Schreiber could face federal charges. No one was injured in the fire, which burned a 10-by-10-foot hole in the roof at the back of the mosque’s main building and blackened its eaves with soot.
Deputies said they searched Schreiber’s home and also found a motorcycle matching the one that was seen in surveillance video, speeding away from the fire. In a telephone interview Thursday night, Alfonso described Schreiber as being a “couple cans short of a six-pack” and said he doesn’t think Schreiber is intellectually capable of setting the blaze without coaching.
“IF AMERICA truly wants peace and safety and pursuit of happiness they should consider all forms of ISLAM as radical”.
“There is anti-Islam propaganda, and that corroborates our fear that it has to do with the Islamic community”, said Maj.
The fire was set late on Sunday on the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Mateen was killed by law enforcement officers at the end of the deadliest mass shooting in modern USA history.
Numerous arrests relate to relatively minor crimes, such as shoplifting, trespassing, battery, probation violation and larceny, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records. He told police in a 911 call that he had pledged allegiance to the head of the Islamic State militant group, but investigators do not believe he had assistance from outside organizations.
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St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Bryan Beaty confirmed in an email Wednesday that an arrest had been made but wouldn’t disclose any details until a news conference scheduled for later that evening. He said Schreiber attended his synagogue for about a month last spring to study the Torah, but left little impression, and gave no indication he might act violently in the future.
