Free Republic

An ex-convict who posted anti-Islamic rants online pleaded no contest Monday to setting fire to a mosque that the Orlando nightclub shooter occasionally attended was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Joseph Schreiber, dressed in a burnt orange jumpsuit, his wrists and ankles shackled, pleaded no contest during Monday's hearing before Circuit Judge Steven Levin. Schreiber answered Levin's questions in a clear, unwavering voice before sentencing. A no contest plea is treated the same as a guilty plea. He had confessed to detectives that he set fire to the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce last Sept. 11, the 15th anniversary...

In the small Gulf Coast city of Victoria, Texas, there are several churches, but just one synagogue, and one mosque — at least, until the mosque mysteriously burned down on Saturday, according to the New York Times. Now, in a sense, the synagogue has become a mosque: the Jews of Victoria handed the Muslims the key to the building, so they would a place to worship while rebuilding. “Everyone knows everybody, I know several members of the mosque, and we felt for them,” said Robert Loeb, the president of Bnai Israel, which affiliates with the Reconstructionist movement. On Sunday, the...

A Texas mosque has received nearly $1m in donations after it was destroyed in a fire over the weekend. More than $900,000 had been raised to rebuild the Islamic Center of Victoria as of Monday afternoon, according to a GoFundMe page. Texas officials have yet to determine the cause of the blaze, which happened in the early hours of Saturday.