US man indicted for hate crime over mosque fire

LOS ANGELES–A 24-year-old US man was indicted Thursday on arson and hate crimes charges for torching an Islamic center in Oregon in 2010 in apparent revenge over a plot to bomb a Christmas tree ceremony.

The Justice Department said Cody Crawford had been charged with setting fire to the Salman Alfarisi Islamic Center on November 28, 2010, two days after a Somali-born man who had prayed there was arrested over the alleged bomb plot.

“The indictment alleges that Crawford set the fire because of the race, color, or ethnic characteristics of individuals associated with the mosque,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

No one was wounded by the fire, which destroyed part of the mosque attended by 19-year-old Mohamed Osman Mohamud, who was to appear in court the next day on charges of plotting the car bomb attack.

Mohamud was later indicted for the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, after setting off what he thought was an explosives-laden van at the tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon, in the US northwest.

“Burning a house of worship because of hatred toward members of one religion is not just an attack on that religion; it is an attack on our core American values,” said Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez.

If convicted, Crawford faces a minimum of 10 years in prison, and a maximum sentence of 30 years.