Ft. Collins Mosque Vandal Commits Suicide

FORT COLLINS, CO -- A man convicted in December of vandalizing a Fort Collins mosque last year was found dead in a local motel Saturday. The Larimer Co. Coroner's office announced Monday that Joseph Giaquinto, 36, committed suicide, the Fort Collins Coloradan reported.

Giaquinto pleaded guilty to a hate crime in December and was convicted for "felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor bias-motivated crime." According to police, Giaquinto vandalized the Islamic Center of Fort Collins March 26 in a rampage where he, "overturned outdoor furniture, smashed windows with two large rocks, and threw a Bible through the broken glass and into the mosque's prayer hall," according to the Coloradoan. Police estimated the damage at $3,000.

The Fort Collins vandalism was one of many anti-Muslim incidents across the country in 2017 that caused anxiety among Colorado and local muslims.

Giaquinto, a former was a combat medic in the U.S. Army, was sentenced last week to three years of wellness court and six months of work release.

Larimer Co. Sheriff's deputies responded Saturday to the Motel 6 at 3900 E. Mulberry St. for a death investigation, Spokesman David Moore told the Coloradan.

Read more in the Coloradan here.

Image via Fort Collins Police of suspect kicking the door of Islamic Center of Fort Collins March 26, 2017