Suspect In Florida Mosque Arson Made Anti-Islamic Facebook Posts

This undated booking photo released by the Florida Department of Corrections shows Joseph Michael Schreiber, 32, who was arrested Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016, in Fort Pierce, Fla., and is facing a charge of arson with ... This undated booking photo released by the Florida Department of Corrections shows Joseph Michael Schreiber, 32, who was arrested Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016, in Fort Pierce, Fla., and is facing a charge of arson with a hate crime enhancement in connection with a fire that heavily damaged the Florida mosque Orlando nightclub gunman Omar Mateen occasionally attended, authorities announced. (Florida Department of Corrections via AP) MORE LESS
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The man arrested Wednesday on suspicion of setting fire to the mosque that the Orlando nightclub shooter once attended reportedly painted Muslims as terrorists and criminals in multiple Facebook posts.

Joseph Michael Schreiber was taken into custody on an arson charge with a hate crime enhancement for allegedly starting a fire Sunday night at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, Florida, the Associated Press reported. Omar Mateen, the man who killed 49 people at an LGBT nightclub this summer, used to worship at the mosque.

Though Schreiber’s Facebook page has been taken down, posts obtained by the AP indicate that he thought all followers of Islam were “radical.”

“IF AMERICA truly wants peace and safety and pursuit of happiness they should consider all forms of ISLAM as radical. … ALL ISLAM IS RADICAL, and should be considered TERRORIST AND CRIMANALS (sic) and all hoo (sic) participate in such activity should be found guilty of WAR CRIM (sic) until law and order is restored in this beautiful free country,” Schreiber, whom the AP reported was Jewish, wrote in one post.

Schreiber posted other comments referring to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to ABC News.

The fire at the Fort Pierce mosque was set on the 15th anniversary of those attacks, and also coincided with the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.

No one was inside the building when the blaze began shortly after midnight, but substantial damage was done to the structure.

Maj. David Thompson of the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said that police searched Schreiber’s home after receiving tips from community members and reviewing surveillance video that showed a person approaching the mosque just before the fire started. They found evidence linked to the arson and the anti-Islamic social media posts, according to the AP.

Florida Department of Corrections records obtained by the AP showed that Schreiber had been arrested twice before for theft and served a total of five years in prison for those crimes.

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