Posted on 05/12/2020 6:03:49 PM PDT by Olog-hai
A man accused of setting a fire that destroyed an Islamic center in southeast Missouri has been charged with a federal hate crime, the U.S. Attorney’s office in St. Louis said Tuesday.
A federal grand jury indicted 42-year-old Nicholas J. Proffitt in the April fire that destroyed the Cape Girardeau Islamic Center, the office said in a statement. Proffitt is charged with damaging religious property because of the property’s religious character, using fire to commit a federal felony, and damaging a building used in interstate commerce through use of fire. […]
A Muslim advocacy group, which had called for a hate crime investigation after the fire, on Tuesday praised authorities for charging Proffitt with a hate crime.
“This hate crime charge is a clear signal to Muslims in Cape Girardeau and beyond that U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen stands ready to protect the Muslim community and will deploy the resources necessary to do so,” said Yasir Ali, board chairman for the Missouri chapter of the Council on American-Islamic relations.
Proffitt spent time in prison for defacing the same Islamic center more than a decade ago. In 2009, he pleaded guilty to state charges for throwing rocks that damaged the mosque and a vehicle in the parking lot. He was sentenced to three years in prison. …
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
I believe no charges brought by the federal government.
What crimes are done with love??
I’m rather stunned that there are Muslims anywhere near Cape Girardeau. College drag them in? Or a hospital?
Hate is a Motive, it isn’t a Crime.
I absolutely reject the legitimacy of all “hate crime” laws,regardless of what evidence is presented.In this case..arson...maybe.State charges,not Federal.
Poor planning and reconnaissance.
No kidding, talk about an oxymoron - “Cape Girardeau Islamic Center.”
Maybe the immigrant “charities” dropping off their precious cargo for fun and profit?
Can you not distinguish between arson against inanimate private property and further charges that act of arson is also the same as terrorizing an entire community?
No, absolutely there’s justification for hate crimes. Think harder.
Proffitt spent time in prison for defacing the same Islamic center more than a decade ago. In 2009, he pleaded guilty to state charges for throwing rocks that damaged the mosque and a vehicle in the parking lot. He was sentenced to three years in prison. …
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Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but at least he recognizes the threat.
Most people are still pretending Islam is a religion of peace.
An entire community that believes that when they are in the majority it’ll be OK to kill and enslave infidels.
It’s in their book.
Arson of any occupied building would certainly cause fear.That’s a given.But I am *absolutely* not interested in any particular motive.Striking the match is serious enough.
Why would Muslims set up a mosque in Cape Girardeau of all places? Simple. Cape Girardeau is the birthplace of Rush Limbaugh. This is no different than wanting to set up a mosque by Ground Zero in NY. It’s symbolic.
What was the Proffitt Motive?
Anybody else wonder how our ancestors let the feddies intrude so far into State domains that they want to handle what the state of Missouri is perfectly able to handle with its own laws against arson?
The Feds won’t get him until the state is done with him and he will be in state prison for years.
He got 3 years for throwing rocks ata building and car?
It’s so. Five of my former students here in Cape were Muslims. Four of them were the kids of a black American doctor who married a woman from Malaysia and one was the daughter of a Pakistani PhD at the local university. Besides Muslim students there used to a restaurant here run by a Muslim as well. Not a lot—dozens, not hundreds.
They guy who set fire to the center previously did time for throwing rocks at it. The “center” is a two-story building that used to be a neighborhood grocery store. The upstairs part had been partitioned into several rooms. Firefighters who worked the fire found themselves in what looked to them to be a maze. It is fortunate for the arsonist that no one died in the fire.
Hopefully, with or without “hate charges”, he will be away for a very long time.
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