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Suspicious Fire Damages Tennessee Mosque Construction Site
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - A spokesman for federal arson investigators said Sunday a fire that damaged construction equipment at the site of an Islamic center in suburban Nashville remained under investigation.
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Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesman Eric Kehn said his department was working with the FBI and the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office to determine what happened at the site early Saturday morning.
"At this point, it's still an onging investigation," Kehn said. He declined to characterize the fire, which a spokeswoman for the center said appeared to have been set by someone who doused construction equipment with gasoline then set at least one truck ablaze.
Camie Ayash told the Daily News Journal the fire has frightened Muslims, who have been part of the community for decades.
"Everyone in our community no longer feels safe," Ayash said. "To set a fire that could have blown up equipment and, God forbid, spread and caused damage to the neighbors there ... When (officials) called me this morning, I started crying."
A sign marking the site of the future Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has been vandalized twice in the past several months. But Ayash said the fire "takes it to a whole new level."
The incident marks the latest twist in an increasingly volatile debate surrounding the efforts of the local Muslim community to build a much larger house of worship. The proposed center on 15 acres would include a mosque, a multi-purpose facility, sports facilities, a pavilion and a cemetery, and serve approximately 250 families.
Digging had begun at the site, located directly beside a Baptist church.
Some opposition has come from those expressing concerns about infrastructure impact and traffic, but much has also come from from those implying the mosque would be a haven for terrorists.
Ayash said Islamic Center officials were contacted by the sheriff's department around 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
She said it appeared gasoline had been poured on several pieces of equipment at the site and one vehicle was lit on fire.
"I think they lifted the hood and poured gas into the hood and set it on fire," Ayash said. "The other equipment had gasoline poured on it but was not set on fire."
Authorities working the scene did not specify whether gasoline or some other accelerant was used to start the fire that gutted the engine area of an earth hauler.
Islamic Center officials contacted the FBI and Department of Homeland Security on Saturday, according to Ayash, and sheriff's investigators "told us they will be investigating this as a hate crime."
Ayash later said sheriff's officials "asked her to correct her statement," adding they plan to explore several different motives while investigating the apparent arson.
Rutherford County resident Kevin Fisher, who has led protest efforts against the mosque on the grounds of infrastructure concerns and a lack of transparency in the county's planning approval process, issued a statement Saturday.
"We in this community believe strongly in the rule of law, and choose to settle our disagreements through peaceful deliberations and discussion, not vigilantism. ... We who stand in opposition to this mosque have made our concerns known through proper legal channels and have conducted ourselves with dignity, respect and out of a spirit of love for our community, and we will continue to do so."
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Information from: The Daily News Journal, http://www.dnj.com
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesman Eric Kehn said his department was working with the FBI and the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office to determine what happened at the site early Saturday morning.
"At this point, it's still an onging investigation," Kehn said. He declined to characterize the fire, which a spokeswoman for the center said appeared to have been set by someone who doused construction equipment with gasoline then set at least one truck ablaze.
Camie Ayash told the Daily News Journal the fire has frightened Muslims, who have been part of the community for decades.
"Everyone in our community no longer feels safe," Ayash said. "To set a fire that could have blown up equipment and, God forbid, spread and caused damage to the neighbors there ... When (officials) called me this morning, I started crying."
A sign marking the site of the future Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has been vandalized twice in the past several months. But Ayash said the fire "takes it to a whole new level."
The incident marks the latest twist in an increasingly volatile debate surrounding the efforts of the local Muslim community to build a much larger house of worship. The proposed center on 15 acres would include a mosque, a multi-purpose facility, sports facilities, a pavilion and a cemetery, and serve approximately 250 families.
Digging had begun at the site, located directly beside a Baptist church.
Some opposition has come from those expressing concerns about infrastructure impact and traffic, but much has also come from from those implying the mosque would be a haven for terrorists.
Ayash said Islamic Center officials were contacted by the sheriff's department around 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
She said it appeared gasoline had been poured on several pieces of equipment at the site and one vehicle was lit on fire.
"I think they lifted the hood and poured gas into the hood and set it on fire," Ayash said. "The other equipment had gasoline poured on it but was not set on fire."
Authorities working the scene did not specify whether gasoline or some other accelerant was used to start the fire that gutted the engine area of an earth hauler.
Islamic Center officials contacted the FBI and Department of Homeland Security on Saturday, according to Ayash, and sheriff's investigators "told us they will be investigating this as a hate crime."
Ayash later said sheriff's officials "asked her to correct her statement," adding they plan to explore several different motives while investigating the apparent arson.
Rutherford County resident Kevin Fisher, who has led protest efforts against the mosque on the grounds of infrastructure concerns and a lack of transparency in the county's planning approval process, issued a statement Saturday.
"We in this community believe strongly in the rule of law, and choose to settle our disagreements through peaceful deliberations and discussion, not vigilantism. ... We who stand in opposition to this mosque have made our concerns known through proper legal channels and have conducted ourselves with dignity, respect and out of a spirit of love for our community, and we will continue to do so."
___
Information from: The Daily News Journal, http://www.dnj.com
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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Yep Lutan, even stranger is the fact I clearly stated I was making an opinion and not accussing.
How about waiting until there is some evidence that this actually was some kind of hate crime before throwing out inflammatory speculation?
But then again I suppose this tidbit from the article is meerly coincidence as well....it could be, but does lead to questions.
A sign marking the site of the future Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has been vandalized twice in the past several months.
or this..
The incident marks the latest twist in an increasingly volatile debate surrounding the efforts of the local Muslim community to build a much larger house of worship.
or this...
Some opposition has come from those expressing concerns about infrastructure impact and traffic, but much has also come from from those implying the mosque would be a haven for terrorists
And last, but not least...
Islamic Center officials contacted the FBI and Department of Homeland Security on Saturday, according to Ayash, and sheriff's investigators "told us they will be investigating this as a hate crime."
Ahhh, reading comprehension be all but damned here. I suppose since this article is from a news source where things like FACTS should be important, vs a reporter's opinion....then I guess all these tidbits are coincidence is just throwing out INFLAMMATORY SPECULATION.
I mean how dare the FBI and Dept of Homeland Security make such inflammatory speculations and remarks, without waiting for some evidence.
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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"I figured you wouldn't be able to hold back from this Ben."
So what? I don't recall needing any other FFN members' permission to exercise my 1st Amendment rights.
Your response to my comments that you re-posted in bold isn't really a response, since it is full of qualifiers and one point that is a VERY bad idea.
The qualifiers ignore the fact that my statement included "...known to be extremist..." Ummm, that would include ALL extremists, John, including the ones that you brought up when referring to Jim's comments.
The BAD idea is the requirement for the "extremist" definition to set the bar at "...reasonable intelligence from law enforcement..." That is a standard that rarely, if ever is going to be met. First, law enforcement typically keeps that kind of intelligence in "close hold" mode, so fire and EMS are very unlikely to be in the law enforcement intelligence loop. Second, even if law enforcement does share intelligence, what they do share tends to be so generic that it has very little practical use as a strategy-making tool. Third, by the time you figure out that law enforcement didn't tell you enough about the situation to keep your firefighters from harm, it's probably going to be too late if you've started out with an aggressive interior attack.
If there's no rescue, a strong suspicion is all I need to value my firefighters' lives and health more than property...ANY property.
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You freely admitted that you speculated. I told you that I think that is premature, inflammatory, and I'll add here that it's a bad idea.
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Just because law enforcement investigates something as a hate crime does not mean that a) it was a hate crime or that b) they'll be able to prove it.
And yes, John, the speculation was indeed inflammatory. Look around for the flames, dude.
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Actually, it would be more accurate to say "The person or people who committed this crime should to be held accountable."
Crime is crime. It doesn't matter if any alleged hate is involved or not. If it's arson, then it's arson.
The fire wasn't any better or worse if someone didn't want a particular religion to build there than if it was set by the construction company's competitor in order to try to get the job, or if it was set by a deranged person, or if the Great Flying Spaghetti Monster was trying to create enough heat to boil himself past the al dente stage.
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The qualifiers ignore the fact that my statement included "...known to be extremist..." Ummm, that would include ALL extremists, John, including the ones that you brought up when referring to Jim's comments
Exactly...KNOWN to be extremists, not a general opinion based off of ignorance or emotions.
First, law enforcement typically keeps that kind of intelligence in "close hold" mode, so fire and EMS are very unlikely to be in the law enforcement intelligence loop.
Perhaps you should have a better working relationship with your LE then. Here we don't have the issue often of worrying about personal speculations or "as far as I know". If there is an issue with a place, we are informed. Wierd how that works.
If there's no rescue, a strong suspicion is all I need to value my firefighters' lives and health more than property...ANY property.
True, as I mentioned earlier as well the scene size up will be the determining factor for any place. The whole point is the question of fighting a fire in one religious establishment because of ignorance or misconceptions one may have about said religion, and one's own place of worship.
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What's the matter Ben, didn't read the article so it is just me spreading such inflammatory remarks? Perhaps an apology from you for making the accusations of spreading inflammatory speculation especially considering that info came from the report as well.
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So what, I don't need your approval to voice an opinion.
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Crime is crime. It doesn't matter if any alleged hate is involved or not. If it's arson, then it's arson.
Oh contrare...better look into that one there. If a hate crime "kicker" is sought with the charges it can make a difference in a sentence if found guilty.
Basically if the sentence for arson is XX years in prison, a hate crime kicker can increase that sentence.
The fire wasn't any better or worse if someone didn't want a particular religion to build there than if it was set by the construction company's competitor in order to try to get the job, or if it was set by a deranged person, or if the Great Flying Spaghetti Monster was trying to create enough heat to boil himself past the al dente stage.
As I also mentioned. Are you having a hard time with comprehension here?
Point is it doesn't matter the real reason the fire was started, whether disgruntled employee, competitor, deranged person, dare, whatever and so forth. Given the "insensitivities" history involved here, a hate crime suspicion is reasonable and as the article mentioned the incident would be investigated as a hate crime.
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And I don't need your approval to point out that your speculation is premature, inflammatory, and biased.
Members of the Murfreesboro Islamic Center seem to agree with me. They're not convinced that the perpetrators were even locals.
"We have very good relationships with our neighbors." Cami Ayash, Murfreesboro Islamic Center spokesperson, on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 last night.
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B.S., John.
"What's the matter Ben, didn't read the article so it is just me spreading such inflammatory remarks?" That is a straw man logical fallacy.
Nowhere did I say that it was "just you" spreading inflammatory remarks. Just because you have company doesn't make them less inflammatory.
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My point is that hate crime "kicker" is bad law.
The results of the crime are the same, regardless of the motive.
The results of an arson don't become magically worse just because of differing motives.
If two similar arsons with similar damage occur, both of the perps are convicted, but one gets a hate crime kicker attached, then that violates the "Equal Justice Under The Law" provision of the U.S. Constitution.
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