DISTURBING

Houston Mosque Set Ablaze in Early Morning Arson Attack

Just an hour before morning prayers.

Authorities are probing an arson attack on a Houston mosque early Thursday as a possible hate crime. Police say the front section of the Northshore Islamic Center was severely damaged after an unknown attacker set fire to the building’s front doors at about 4:30 a.m., shortly before morning prayers were set to begin. All four tires of the car belonging to the mosque’s leader were also slashed, according to police. “Fortunately, nobody got hurt today, but God forbid—within an hour, there were people coming for their morning prayers,” M.J. Khan, the president of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, told KPRC. The ATF has reportedly been alerted to the incident and will refer the case to the FBI to determine whether it was a hate crime. The incident came just three days after a man was convicted on federal hate crime charges for another attack on a Texas mosque, the 2017 fire at the Victoria Islamic Center, about 150 miles from Houston.