Fire at Texas Mosque

During the early morning of Saturday, January 28, a fire destroyed the Islamic Center of Victoria in Victoria, Texas just hours after Trump’s Muslim ban, consequently raising suspicions about the fire being an act of terrorism.

The fire was first spotted by a convenience store clerk who quickly called the fire department at 2 a.m. after seeing flames and smoke slowly consuming the mosque.

The actual cause of the fire, however, is still unknown, as Shahid Hashmi, the president of the Islamic center, reported that they do not have any leads or information pointing to it. Thus, the fire marshall of the town of Victoria, Tom Legler, sought the assistance of both the Texas Fire Marshal’s Office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, who are now working to figure out the missing information.

Officials report that the same mosque was burglarized just a week prior, in addition to having been vandalized several years ago in July of 2013. According to The Victoria Advocate, a local newspaper, a man had painted the phrase “H8” on the outside of the building: a crime to which he confessed he had done.

The fire was crushing blow to the already damaged morale of Victoria’s Muslim population. However, the community’s support has been more than generous with accumulative donations exceeding $800,000 to go to reparations, as well as the hospitality of local churches and a synagogue who have offered their places of worship as interim congregation locations for the mosque’s community while rebuilding projects are initiated.

According to Hashmi, the 4,000-square-foot prayer and community center he had helped found in 2000 was home to around 66,000 people and served the, roughly, 40 Muslim families in the city of Victoria, as it was the only Muslim community center available to this population.
While investigators continue to search for the cause of the fire that destroyed the mosque, the Muslim community in Victoria, Texas is in a state of preparation themselves, in addition to the Islamic center, with strong support from the community around them.

Image Credit: http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/01/29/508187/US-Texas-Victoria-Islamic-Center-mosque-fire-CAIR-hate-crime