US man tries to burn store run by Indian-Americans in Florida

March 12, 2017

New York, Mar 12: In yet another incident highlighting the dangerously growing trend of racist attacks in the United States, a man in Florida tried to burn down a convenience store owned by Indian-Americans, thinking they were 'Muslims'.

A 64-year-old man tried to set the store on fire because he thought the owners were Muslim, St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said, reports CNN.

The accused named Richard Lloyd confessed that he wanted to "run the Arabs out of our country" so he pushed a dumpster in front of the Port St. Lucie store and set the contents on fire.

Lloyd was charged with first-degree arson and booked into the St. Lucie County Jail in lieu of a $30,000 bond.

Lloyd told detectives he assumed the owner was Muslim and that made him livid because of "what they are doing in the Middle East," Mascara said.

"It's unfortunate that Mr. Lloyd made the assumption that the store owners were Arabic when, in fact, they are of Indian descent," Mascara said.

The sheriff also noted that Lloyd's mental health will be evaluated and the state attorney's office will decide if this was a hate crime.

Lloyd told investigators he planned to burn the building because he "was doing his part for America."

Mascara further informed that when deputies arrived Friday morning and found the fire, a man in front of the store put his hands behind his back and told officers to "take me away."

Last month, Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed in an alleged hate crime in Kansas, as the gunman shot him dead thinking he was an "Iranian'.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Cut all ties with Israel and impose arms, trade embargo; history will record our action: Iran to Muslim countries

News Network

May 5,2024

Iran has urged Muslim countries to cut all relations with the Israeli regime as means of pressuring Tel Aviv to end its ongoing genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks on Saturday, addressing the 15th Heads of State and Government Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Gambia’s capital Banjul.

“Beyond doubt, this time period will also pass by, despite all its hardships and adversities for the Palestinian nation,” he said.

“However, the manner and quality of the role that is played by us, Muslim states, in the face of this crisis will go down in history,” the top diplomat added.

“Undoubtedly, severance of diplomatic and economic ties and [imposition of] practical arms and trade embargo [on Israel] serves as an important means of cessation of its genocide in Gaza and atrocities in the West Bank and the Noble al-Quds.”

At least 34,654 people have died in Gaza since October 7, when the Israeli regime began the war in response to al-Aqsa Storm, a retaliatory operation by the coastal sliver’s resistance groups.

Despite the unabated campaign of bloodshed and destruction, the regime has so far fallen short of realizing its goals, including defeating Gaza’s resistance, causing forced displacement of the territory’s entire population to neighboring Egypt, and enabling the release of those who were taken captive during al-Aqsa Storm.

Amir-Abdollahian said Gaza’s developments proved that elimination of the Palestinian resistance “was nothing but an illusion.”

“Because the Israeli regime is not a legitimate government. It is only an occupying apartheid power,” he said, adding, “Passage of time is not going to lend legitimacy to an occupying power.”

The foreign minister asserted that realization of sustainable peace and security in the region was only possible through cessation of the regime’s occupation of Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon, return of the Palestinian refugees to their homeland, and manifestation of Palestinians’ right to self-determination.

Comments