Local police and officials with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are investigating a fire at a Houston mosque on Christmas Day that caused significant damage to the building.
Nobody was injured in the Friday fire at the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, officials told Houston television station KTRK. About 80 firefighters battled the blaze at the mosque, according to KTRK.
Law enforcement officials do not yet know the cause of the fire, but ATF officials told Houston television station KHOU that there were multiple origins for the fire. An ATF official said that numerous origins was suspicious, as it could suggest arson, according to KHOU.
M.J. Khan with the Islamic Society of Greater Houston told Click 2 Houston that the mosque did not receive any threats or see anything suspicious ahead of the fire.
Mustafaa Carroll, the director of the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), called on law enforcement to investigate whether the fire was a hate crime.
“Because of the recent spike in hate incidents targeting mosques nationwide, we urge law enforcement authorities to investigate a possible bias motive for this fire,” Carroll told Click 2 Houston.
Since the Paris terrorist attack and the San Bernardino shooting, the U.S. has seen an uptick in hate crimes against Muslims, according to an analysis the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University San Bernardino.
Thanks Trump for making this climate of fear. And for revealing the dark and epic hatred of the other that is the underbelly of the GOP. These are your followers Donald. Your hatred of the other is the same fear tactic used by all demagogues. I so hope your candidacy along with your career crashes in flames.
No doubt Trump will now propose that all who belong to the ethnic/racial group that matches these terrorists must be banned from entering the country.
Now you guys know perfectly well Trump will angrily reject the idea his rhetoric could possibly be a factor. And he’ll manage to say something that sounds very much like he might sorta maybe approve of burning down mosques, under the circumstances of how the Muslims are killing us all. Then he’ll angrily reject the idea he said anything of the sort and will obfuscate in about five different directions. Then three or four days later, on the downslope of the furor, he’ll say of course he doesn’t support mosque-burning, how could anyone think such a thing, and there’s no evidence his talk had anything to do with any mosque-burning and anyone who thinks it does is against him because he’s so awesome.
This is pretty simple. The building involved and multiple origins make it pretty clear. The odds this isn’t arson, and a hate crime, are worse than winning the lottery while being struck by lightning and being attacked by a shark…all at the same time. Is Trump to blame? Well, he certainly isn’t helping the situation, is he?
Cue the disingenuous denials by the Promoters of Muslim Hate™ that their incessant rhetoric has anything to do with the violence, in three, two, one…