Feds Investigate SE Michigan Mosque Fire

Federal agents have joined the investigation into a fire that destroyed a southeast Michigan mosque Saturday evening. Fire officials in Pittsfield Township, where the Islamic Center of Ypsilanti is located, said it’s too early in the investigation to determine if the fire was deliberately set, but given a tumultuous political atmosphere for American Muslims, they contacted the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to assist.

The Pittsfield Township Fire Department was called to the Islamic Center at 5909 W. Michigan Ave. around 4 p.m. Saturday after multiple 911 calls. The middle section of the building, which also serves as a mosque, was engulfed in flames but was quickly extinguished, fire officials said.

Despite their quick action, the building was destroyed. No one was inside the building at the time.

Even without direct evidence of arson, Pittsfield Township Deputy Police Chief Gordon Schick told MLive.com officials are “not excluding it possibly being a hate crime.”

Schick and Pittsfield Township Fire Chief Sean Gleason told MLive the fire is the second on the same street in about two weeks. A Feb. 27 fire caused about $100,000 damage to a vacant home at 5875W. Michigan Ave., they said.

A dozen ATF investigators were on the scene Sunday gathering evidence and interviewing potential witnesses, spokeswoman Ronnie Dahl told The Detroit News. Anyone with information is asked to contact the ATF tipline (888) ATF-TIPS or report the information through the free download Report-It App.

The FBI is also assisting in the investigation, according to reports.

In a statement, Dawud Walid, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, asked investigators to consider arson as a possible cause of the fire. CAIR is offering a $1,000 reward in the investigation.

“We urge state and federal agencies to use their full resources to investigate this fire to determine a cause and, if it is determined to be arson, a possible motive,” he wrote. “Anyone who has information about this fire, or saw anything suspicious at the time of the blaze, should immediately contact law enforcement authorities.”

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Dearborn Democrat whose district includes Ypsilanti, said in a statement that she was “deeply concerned” about the fire.

“At a time when we are seeing an increase in threats against members of our communities based on race and religion — whether at a Mosque or a Jewish Community Center — there is obvious reason for concern, and there are many questions as to what happened and why,” Dingell wrote. “I have spoken with law enforcement officials and am pleased that federal authorities are working with state and local law enforcement to investigate this incident and determine the facts. If it is found to be arson, the perpetrators must be held accountable. As a community, we must stand united against hate and division in our society.”

Last fall, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division settled a lawsuit against Pittsfield Township after trustees denied a zoning request to allow for construction of the Michigan Islamic Academy in 2011, saying the denial was unconstitutional.

The planned school would house a pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students. The school is currently located in Ann Arbor, but has outgrown its facilities. Denial of the permit “imposed a substantial burden on MIA’s exercise of religion” in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, the government said.

Photo by Christopher Ebdon via Flickr Commons