New York, January 04: A New York man arrested for attacking an Islamic centre and a Hindu place of worship with firebombs has confessed to his role in the incidents that caused outrage over the weekend, citing personal grudges with people at the targeted locations.
The 40-year old, whose identity has not been released yet, was arrested yesterday after the police tracked down his car that was seen at the site of the attacks through surveillance cameras as well identified by few witnesses, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
Charges are pending against the man who confessed during questioning that he hurled molotov cocktails using Starbucks bottles at the five locations in Queens, including a convenience store and two other residences on New Yearโs day.
โThe individual is implicating himself in each of the five firebombing cases, citing personal grievances with each location,โ police spokesman Paul Browne said.
Kelly said the man in custody had been kicked out of the convenience store on December 22 for trying to steal a glass Starbucks bottle and milk and had made threats as he was escorted out of the store.
โWhen they were pushing him out of the store, he said words to the effect that โWeโre going to get even. Weโre going to get back at you,โโ Kelly said, adding the man was motivated by personal grievances with people at each of the locations.
The attacks, being investigated as possible hate crimes, caused outrage among city officials and inter-faith leaders who said such incidents should not be tolerated and the guilty be brought to justice.
In a show of support, city Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Kelly joined several Muslim, Jewish and Christian representatives at the Imam Al-Khoei Foundation centre, which was one of the targets, for a news briefing yesterday.
โAs I said before, we donโt know what the motive was,โ Bloomberg told reporters.
โBut in New York City, as you know, we have no tolerance for violence, and certainly no tolerance for discriminationโ. Bloomberg said whether it was a โsenseless violence or a hate crime… in either case, weโre just not going to tolerate it in this cityโ.
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall said the person responsible for the attacks โmust be punished to fullest extent of the law. This is terrible. And to just throw bombs when you donโt even know whoโs inside, thatโs wrong. Thatโs wrong and itโs not right for Queensโ.
While no one was injured in any of the attacks, property was damaged. About 80 people were inside the Islamic centre at the time of the attack.
โWe were a little bit anxious and a bit nervous in the beginning because we werenโt sure. But now after having seen all the support that we have been receiving it is very reassuring,โ said Al-Khoei Foundation Representative Meesam Razvi.
The Imam at the Al-Khoei centre Maan Al-Sahlani said, โWe are one family.ย If one gets hurt, all the family gets hurt. So, we have to be shoulder to shoulderโ.
The police had earlier released a sketch of the suspect and surveillance video that showed a man hurling the cocktail at a house that was used for Hindu worship services.
The suspect had been described as a black man, 25-30 years old, 5โ8โ who drove away in a light coloured sedan
A USD 12000 reward was also offered for information on the man.
