There is no excuse for what Randy Linn did. He is a criminal, and he richly deserves his twenty-year prison term. This incident is being used, of course, as part of ongoing efforts to discredit the anti-jihad movement, but it no more does that than the murdering thug John Brown's massacres discredited the anti-slavery movement.
What is noteworthy here is his explanation of his motive: "Every day you turn on the TV, you see Muslims trying to kill Americans." Hamas-linked CAIR will try to use this to intimidate the mainstream media into making sure that you don't see Muslims trying to kill Americans when you turn on your TV, for such incidents will be ignored and whitewashed. Their response should be to work for Islamic reform such that the texts and teachings of Islam that motivate Muslims to kill Americans are understood in a radically different way from how all too many Muslims understand them now. To do that, however, they'd have to be what they claim to be, a "moderate" civil rights organization, rather than the Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood front that they really are.
"Ind. Man: I Burned Ohio Mosque To Avenge Soldiers," by John Seewer for the Associated Press, December 19:
TOLEDO, Ohio -- A former Marine from Indiana admitted Wednesday that he broke into a mosque in Ohio and set fire to a prayer rug because he wanted revenge for the killings of American troops overseas.Randy Linn pleaded guilty to hate crime charges, saying he'd become enraged after seeing images of wounded soldiers in the news.
"Every day you turn on the TV, you see Muslims trying to kill Americans," said Linn, a truck driver from St. Joe.
When asked by a federal judge whether he thought all Muslims are terrorists, he answered: "I'd say most of them are."
A deal between prosecutors and Linn, 52, calls for him to be sentenced to 20 years next April. He pleaded guilty to intentionally damaging and destroying religious property and two gun-related charges.
U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary told Linn that his acts were an attack on all places of religion and that the mosque was a symbol of peace.
"You are no better than the terrorists or extremists you sought to punish," Zouhary said.
Prosecutors said Linn drove about two hours from his home to suburban Toledo on Sept. 30 and broke into the mosque where he poured gasoline on the rug and lit it on fire.
He estimated that he had drunk 45 beers over several hours before he decided to drive to Ohio.
Linn had several firearms in his car and carried a gun into the mosque, which was empty at the time.
U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach said it was fortunate no one was there. "This is a man who had intolerance in his heart and acted with hate," he said. "We can count ourselves lucky."
Linn said he went room by room to make sure no one was in the building. "I was drinking a beer while I was doing that," he said.
A sprinkler system extinguished the blaze, leaving smoke and water damage in the prayer room of the facility, whose golden dome is a landmark along Interstate 75. No one was hurt.
Members of the Islamic center have been unable to use the building and expect repairs to be finished by the end of March.
Dr. Mahjabeen Islam, president of the Islamic Center, said its members been overwhelmed by support from the community and churches. But she was saddened by Linn's statements in court.
"It was heart-wrenching to hear him speak because the ignorance and intolerance is still palpable," she said. "This is an individual who knows nothing about Islam."...
The woman told law enforcement officers that Linn had made comments complaining about the deaths of U.S. military members in the Middle East, recent attacks on U.S. embassies and Muslims' angry reactions to an anti-Islam video posted online....
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'He richly deserves his twenty-year prison term'.
For burning a prayer rug?
Muslim's conspire in blowing up buildings and get far less.
Muslim's rape and groom underage girls and after being ignored for a decade receive less.
British and European churches are damaged, burned, windows smashed, their clergy intimidated and the perps aren't even pursued let alone charged.
And in a supposed secular society where a nativity scene is deemed to be the apogee of all evil what exactly is the difference between a prayer rug and a Home Base door mat?
Would a door mat burner be sentenced to twenty years?
Somehow I doubt it, yet here we are with the old leftist double standard piled on to the societal mess they've created and suddenly religion counts.
That is of course, if it's the favoured one.