His father is reportedly among roughly 100 people who attend the Islamic Centre of Fort Pierce regularly.
Advertisement
Joseph Michael Schreiber, 32, was arrested in connection with the fire at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, which sustained extensive damage in a blaze set late Sunday, on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
The fire was set late Sunday on the 15th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Schreiber, who has a prison record, confessed he set the fire but would not reveal what accelerant he used, the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said in its arrest affidavit.
“What he did here he can’t do to anybody else”, he said.
Because this act is being charged as a hate crime, Schreiber could face a minimum of 30 years jail-time due to Florida’s hate crime enhancement law. His arrest affidavit contains few details of the evidence against him. Most of it occurred in St. Lucie County.
The FBI is also considering charges.
Schreiber also “made remarks indicative of prejudicial rhetoric associated to Islamic extremists”.
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 USA history, police said.
A weekend surveillance video from the mosque showed a man on a motorcycle approaching the building while talking on a cellphone, according to the affidavit. He said his group tried to shield Schreiber from bullying. “He said he had no intention to hurt anyone and was embarrassed for having committed the crime”.
“There is anti-Islam propaganda, and that corroborates our fear that it has to do with the Islamic community”, said Maj. The fire, which seriously damaged the mosque, broke out at 11:49 p.m. Sunday, just an hour after worshipers who had gathered there for the annual holiday Eid al-Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice, had left.
He wouldn’t say what he used to start the fire, investigators said.
He said Schreiber sometimes would say something against Muslims, but “we would tell him that’s not what we believe, that it is not godly”. “They’re a community feeling under attack”. 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. Dave Thompson. “The community stepped forward and provided that”.
Advertisement
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.
