Fire at Southern California mosque appears to be arson: sheriff

[December 12, 2015]  By Alexandria Sage
 
 COACHELLA, Calif. (Reuters) - A fire that broke out at a Southern California mosque on Friday appears to have been intentionally set and is being investigated as a possible hate crime, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said.

The blaze erupted in the lobby of the Islamic Society of Coachella Valley shortly after 12 p.m. and was contained about 35 minutes later, the Sheriff's Department said. The flames caused smoke damage to the building but no injuries.

A person of interest was being questioned in connection with the incident, the Riverside sheriff said in a statement.

The fire broke out nine days after a Muslim married couple with ties to Riverside County opened fire at a county office center in San Bernardino, about 75 miles northwest of Coachella, raising concerns about an anti-Islamic backlash.
 

The FBI has said it is treating that shooting rampage as an act of terrorism, citing the shooters' declaration that they were acting on behalf of the militant group Islamic State. Other evidence included a large cache of weapons, ammunition and bomb-making materials seized in the investigation.

A spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles, Laura Eimiller, said the agency was helping the Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigate the fire at the mosque.

"We're responding to the mosque to assist local law enforcement partners," Eimiller said. "Any time there is a concern that a house of worship may have been targeted, we would respond and have an investigative interest in the cause and whether or not it was deliberate."

Local television station KESQ reported that unnamed officials at the Islamic Society had said the building had been firebombed. Officials at the mosque did not answer repeated phone calls placed by Reuters.

The Los Angeles Times has previously reported that gunshots were fired at the same mosque in November 2014 and that police were investigating the incident as a hate crime. No one was injured in that shooting.

(Writing and additional reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento and Dan Whitcomb and Victoria Cavaliere in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler and Catherine Evans)

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