During Thursday’s hearing, the judge said the court found no condition of release to reasonably protect the community.
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Multiple 911 calls came in around midnight Tuesday when passersby noticed a fire at the Fort Pierce Islamic Center, the mosque where the Orlando nightclub shooter once worshipped.
Detectives say that after his arrest Wednesday, Schreiber admitted setting the fire, said he had no intention of hurting anyone and was embarrassed to have committed the crime.
“An arrest in this case has been made just 65 hours after the fire was reported. He was picked up when he was walking on the street”, said Chief Deputy Garry Wilson of the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.
In a July social media post, the suspect wrote that “IF AMERICA truly wants peace and safety and pursuit of happiness they should consider all forms of ISLAM as radical”. “Schreiber went on to rant in the same post saying “ALL ISLAM IS RADICAL, and should be considered TERRORIST AND CRIMINALS”.
The judge also asked Schreiber if he could afford a lawyer, to which Schreiber replied “Absolutely not”.
Schreiber was previously sentenced twice to state prison for theft, according to records from the Florida Department of Corrections. The public defender’s office had no immediate comment.
Schreiber faces an arson charge for the fire at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce. Mateen, who killed 49 people at the Orlando nightclub in June, had attended the mosque.
Given the timing, investigators believe the blaze may have been a hate crime, St. Lucie County sheriff’s spokesman Maj. David Thompson has said.
The mosque had also been attended by Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, a Florida man who became the first known American suicide bomber in Syria.
Video captured by neighbors of the mosque show flames shooting up from the back of the mosque before firefighters were able to put the fire out.
“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”, Thompson said.
Sunday’s fire has left the mosque’s members “saddened and scared”, said assistant imam Hamaad Rahman.
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As of Thursday morning, a fundraising page to rebuild the mosque has reached more than $25,000 of a $50,000 goal. The FBI is also seeing if there are federal charges to be filed.
