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Police arrest suspected arsonist of Florida mosque
Police have made an arrest of a man who matched descriptions of an arsonist who set fire to the mosque where gunman Omar Mateen used to pray
The fire erupted at the Islamic Centre of Fort Pierce at about 5:30am on Monday
A Florida man was arrested on Wednesday on charges of setting fire to a mosque attended by the gunman who committed the Orlando shooting, police said.
According to investigators, 32-year-old Joseph Michael Schreiber had posted anti-Islamic material on social media.
The case is being prosecuted as a hate crime under Florida law, and the suspect faces at least 30 years in prison if convicted of committing Monday's arson attack, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office.
Schreiber is accused of starting the blaze that heavily damaged the Islamic Centre of Fort Pierce. This was the place where gunman Omar Mateen would congregate for prayer.
Mateen himself was killed by law enforcement officers at the end of the shooting in Orlando, about 160 km northwest of the Atlantic coast town of Fort Pierce. Mateen’s rampage at a gay nightclub in June left 49 people dead and 53 others wounded.
Fire erupted at the mosque at about 5:30am CET on Monday, coinciding with one of the holiest of Muslim holidays, Eid al-Adha, and authorities immediately branded it an arson attack.
No one was inside the building at the time, but the blaze forced the congregation to hold prayer services elsewhere.
