Detectives: Suspect in Florida mosque fire confessed

FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- An ex-convict who posted anti-Islamic rants online confessed to setting fire to a mosque the Orlando nightclub shooter occasionally attended and said he was embarrassed by the crime, according to an arrest affidavit released Thursday.

Joseph Michael Schreiber

St. Lucie County sheriff's detectives wrote in the affidavit after Joseph Michael Schreiber was arrested Wednesday, he told detectives he had set the fire at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce on Sunday, the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The blaze also coincided with the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.

Schreiber, 32, told detectives he never intended to hurt anyone. No one was injured in the fire, which burned a 10-by-10-foot hole in the roof at the back of the mosque's main building and blackened its eaves with soot.

Schreiber, who previously served two prison terms for theft, was developed as a suspect partly because of a tip from the public, the affidavit said.

He was arrested without incident Wednesday and charged with second-degree arson with a hate-crime enhancement, a crime that carries a maximum 30-year sentence.

St. Lucie County Judge Philip Yacucci ordered Schreiber held without bail Thursday, calling him a danger to the community and a flight risk. He also noted Schreiber had made anti-Islamic posts on social media. Last July, Schreiber posted on Facebook, "All Islam is radical" and all Muslims should be treated as terrorists and criminals.

Schreiber, who is Jewish, stated, "IF AMERICA truly wants peace and safety and pursuit of happiness they should consider all forms of ISLAM as radical. ... ALL ISLAM IS RADICAL, and should be considered TERRORIST AND CRIMANALS (sic) and all hoo (sic) participate in such activity should be found guilty of WAR CRIM (sic) until law and order is restored in this beautiful free country."

Wilfredo Amr Ruiz, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Florida, said Schreiber "obviously doesn't know about the efforts our community is engaged in with our cousins, the Jews, not only in Florida but throughout the nation."

He criticized Gov. Rick Scott and other politicians who failed to speak out after the fire and denounce what he called "terrorism."

"We are certainly missing our political leaders who are probably too busy campaigning now to do a minimum expression of solidarity" with Florida's Muslims, Ruiz said. "Certainly our governor is missing from this."

Scott's office issued a brief statement in response late Thursday, saying only, "Local law enforcement is investigating, and the state stands ready to assist in their efforts in any way."

Omar Mateen was killed by police after opening fire at the Pulse nightclub June 12 in a rampage that left 49 victims dead and 53 wounded, making it the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Mateen professed allegiance to the Islamic State group. His father is among roughly 100 people who regularly attend the mosque.

At the mosque Thursday, member Farhad Khan said he has been in the United States for 50 years and is not surprised non-Muslims are making donations to help rebuild.

"People have good hearts," he said.

Schreiber was previously sentenced twice to state prison for theft, according to records from the Florida Department of Corrections. The records show he served his first sentence from March 2008 to July 2009 and his second from June 2010 to August 2014. St. Lucie County public defender Diamond Litty, whose office has been assigned to Schreiber's case, had no comment Thursday.

A weekend surveillance video from the mosque showed a man on a motorcycle approaching the building while talking on a cellphone, according to the affidavit. He carried a bottle of liquid and some papers and left when there was a flash. The first 911 calls were made about 45 minutes later, after the fire had spread to the attic. It took about 4 1/2 hours for firefighters to extinguish the blaze.

The FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined the investigation into the fire.