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AMP Report - June 23, 2005
American Muslim groups applaud
14-years sentence for Texas mosque attack
American Muslim and Arab organizations have welcomed the the Justice Department announcement that a Texas man who attempted to firebomb the El Paso, Texas mosque was sentenced to more than 14 years in federal prison.
Antonio Flores, 58, was sentenced on Jun 22, 2005 for tossing a firebomb into the center's backyard where children were playing and placing another bomb on a gas meter. Flores told investigators he disliked Muslims and wanted to scare them into leaving El Paso.
While applauding the DOJ decision, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) President Mary Rose Oakar said, "The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, along with the US Attorneys Office, the FBI, and other agencies have sent a strong message of zero tolerance for acts of hate. We wholeheartedly thank them for their efforts to protect all Americans."
American Muslim Voice Executive Director, Samina Faheem Sundas, while welcoming the sentence, said the long sentence to the Texas mosque attacker will surely help in hate crimes against the Muslims.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Executive Director Nihad Awad, said: "We applaud the Justice Department's excellent work in this case and hope that the lengthy sentence sends a message to anti-Muslim bigots."
It may be recalled that when the attack occurred last September, CAIR's Houston office held a news conference to urge that religious and political leaders in Texas speak out against Islamophobia.
"Prosecuting perpetrators of anti-Muslim attacks is a message that our country will not tolerate disrespect or abuse," said Salam Al-Marayati, Executive Director of Muslim Public Affairs Council. "This case exemplifies the need to continue working in partnership with law enforcement in particular and the U.S. government in general in dealing with the never-ending challenges posed by hatred and extremism."
On March 22, 2005, Antonio Flores pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to attempting to damage religious property, and using fire or an explosive device in the commission of a felony. At his plea hearing, Flores admitted that he threw a Molotov cocktail at the Islamic Center and placed a second, similar device near a gas meter on the Islamic Center of El Paso’s property in September 2004.
"This kind of conduct is unconscionable, and the Justice Department will vigorously prosecute any individual who attempts to intimidate his fellow citizen through such abhorrent behavior," said Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Bradley J. Schlozman. "We are gratified that the court recognized the gravity of this offense and imposed such a significant and appropriate sentence."
The Texas man sentence comes in the wake of a series of attacks on American mosques.
Last week, two teenagers were arrested for shooting at and vandalizing the burned remains of a mosque in Adelanto, Calif. which was burned to the ground in an arson attack just weeks before.
Meanwhile, since the Pentagon’s admission that the Quran was mishandled and desecrated by officers at Guantanamo Bay, many reports of Quran desecration have been reported to American Muslim groups and law enforcement.
On June 16, a bag stuffed with burned Qurans was left in front of an Islamic center, shocking members when they arrived for prayers the Islamic Center of Blacksburg, Virginia.
On June 22, 2005, that an Arabic-language copy of Islam's revealed text was torn, burned, covered with excrement and left outside an East Nashville (Tenn.) housing complex that is home to many Muslim families.
SEE: "Islam Center Bomber Gets 14-Plus Years"
http://www.borderlandnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050623/NEWS/506230345/1001
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