A Christmas blaze which
burned down sections of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston in Texas
appears to be an act of arson, according to investigators on the case.
The Houston Chronicle reports
Houston Fire Department investigators have determined the two-alarm
fire had multiple points of origin and likely was "incendiary," a
conclusion shared by the Houston Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
"As part of the
investigative process, evidence is being collected and analyzed; and
interviews are being conducted," the Houston Fire Department said in a
statement issued to the Chronicle. "We want to reassure the public that we will conduct a complete and thorough investigation."
Photos taken at the scene showed damage to the exterior of the mosque, while society president MJ Khan told the Chronicle everything inside was damaged but copies of the Quran.
"It's a place of worship. It's Christmas Day," Khan told KHOU 11 News. "There were Friday prayers and everyone was here doing their prayers and then this happened."
Between an Islamic State group attack in Paris on Nov. 13 and Dec. 8, the L.A. Times tracked 15
separate incidents in which U.S. Muslims were attacked, harassed or
threatened with violence, including a Dec. 7 incident at Philadelphia's
Al Aqsa Islamic Society in which a severed pig's head was left on the
door and a Nov. 26 incident in which a man shot a Pittsburgh taxi driver who said the gunman asked him about ISIS.
A separate analysis by Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found a higher tally of 38 such attacks between Nov. 13 and Dec. 17.
As of Dec. 11, mosques
throughout the country had been targeted for harassment, vandalism,
damage, arson or attempts to zone them out of existence 63 times
throughout 2015, triple the number for 2014, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
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