Two callers driving in the area reported seeing flames from the roof of the building, the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said.
Advertisement
The fire came at the beginning of Eid al-Adha – the holiday of the sacrifice.
In addition to the physical evidence that suggests arson, as well as a ideo of somebody fleeing the mosque just seconds before a flash and the fire starting, this is the mosque where Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen worshipped on occasion.
No one was injured in the fire that broke out shortly before midnight on Sunday at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce.
While Mateen’s family regularly attended the Islamic Center, he himself did not. Threats on social media included a post suggesting that people “lock the doors when they are inside―- and burn this place to the ground”.
A surveillance video from the mosque showed a man on a motorcycle approaching the building with a bottle of liquid and some papers.
In the video the suspected arsonist is seen riding a motorcycle described as “a Harley-Davidson-style motorcycle, with a low seat and higher handlebars”, according to Thompson.
Thompson also noted the attack also happened close to the anniversary of 9/11.
Members of CAIR in South Florida condemned the fire as terrorism.
The national spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Ibrahim Hooper, said the “unprecedented rise in bigotry in our society” is becoming “a great concern to the American Muslim community”. His father attends the mosque. “First there were threatening voicemails”.
On July 2, a few weeks after the nightclub massacre, a man was beaten outside the mosque.
The community mosque that Omar Mateen frequented was set ablaze on Monday.
Law enforcement officers received reports of flames rising from the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, located about 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Orlando, at about 12:30 a.m. EDT, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Major David Thompson told reporters at a news conference.
Mateen murdered 49 people and wounded 53 the worst mass shooting in United States history at the gay Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida in June. Mateen, who lived in Fort Pierce, perpetrated the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history in June.
The authorities, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were investigating the fire as a potential hate crime, even as officials cautioned that they remained uncertain about the motive for the blaze, which came on the 15th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks and around the beginning of Eid al-Adha, a Muslim holiday. Authorities are working on releasing the footage and are requesting the public’s help in identifying the suspect.
Authorities in Florida are investigating a fire at a mosque that was attended by the gunman in the deadly Orlando nightclub shooting.
Advertisement
“A fire at any place of worship is alarming, regardless of the circumstances”, a statement from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said.
