Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

Giving up is unforgivable.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

The willow is too close to the house.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

When I was faster i was always behind.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

You are here: Home / Politics / America / Today in Domestic Terrorism and Stochastic Violence: Mosque Arson in Florida

Today in Domestic Terrorism and Stochastic Violence: Mosque Arson in Florida

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The Islamic Society of New Tampa/Masjid Dar es Salaam, which is in Thonotasassa (a suburb/bedroom community of Tampa), was attacked early Friday morning (autoplay vid at the link). It was arson.

The positive news is that a neighboring church, the Cypress Point Community Church, allowed the members of the mosque to hold their Friday prayers there. The Hillsborough County Fire Department has the lead on the investigation, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms was also on site and is providing support. I haven’t seen any information on a possible suspect, but this is the second arson at a Florida mosque in six months.

Reader Interactions

91Comments

  7. 7.

    raven

    And, of course, sooner or later someone is going to get tired of this shit and strike back. Just what the fuckers want.

  9. 9.

    PaulW

    Thonotasassa

    Jesus. I’m Google Mapping their address and they’re kinda out in the middle of nowhere east of New Tampa. You have to go out of your way to get there.

    This is both sad and disgusting. Hope they catch the SOBs responsible (I’d start with those damn Klansmen down on I-75 who fly that traitor’s flag off the interstate).

  10. 10.

    amygdala

    Evidently Muhammad Ali, Jr. was detained for a couple of hours at a FL airport. I don’t recognize this country any more.

  11. 11.

    PaulW

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Checked out a couple of Indian newspapers and the Kansas incident was headline news. MAGA. Winning!

    I totally want the Indian government to declare the shooter a terrorist and demand his extradition. The wingnut screams alone would be worth it.

  12. 12.

    PaulW

    @amygdala:

    I do recognize this country. It’s f-cking 1968 again, the same time Muhammad Ali was getting sent to jail for being a conscientious objector while Donald Trump faked his goddamn bone spurs to get out of the draft.

  13. 13.

    ? Martin

    Given the assault against the media being waged by the WH, I would like to see the media run these stories regularly as full-tilt terrorism stories. Lets get a fair sense of how dangerous right wing whites are to our country.

  15. 15.

    ? Martin

    @PaulW: On that note, Muhammad Ali’s son was detained by CBP for two hours on a trip back from the Bahamas (I believe) a few weeks ago. US citizen but locked him down because he’s muslim, same as with Ibtihaj Muhammad, the US Olympic fencer.

  17. 17.

    Gravenstone

    @PaulW: saw a news teaser that they’re sending observers for the criminal investigation. So yeah this will be suitably high profile to elicit such a request.

  18. 18.

    amygdala

    @PaulW: Important contrast. You holding up ok? It’s a lot easier, I think, being in a deep blue state in times like this. Today I saw an old beater car with a brand-new bumper sticker that said, “Grow Up, Donny.”

  19. 19.

    Mnemosyne

    @PaulW:

    If the victims were Indian nationals (I can’t remember if they were citizens or here on work visas), India can cause a pretty nasty diplomatic problem. Tillerson is going to be in a world of shit, and it sometimes comes across that Tillerson actually wants to do a decent job as SoS.

  21. 21.

    amygdala

    @Iowa Old Lady: I haven’t flown internationally since the inauguration, but will be next month. Usually I don’t think twice about going through customs and immigration, but now I’m dreading it.

  22. 22.

    ? Martin

    These stories about ICE and CBP and I’m sure we’ll see other are part of a growing pattern. People that join ICE do so because they believe in deporting people. CBP employees believe in keeping people out. People take jobs that they find rewarding. Trump or Sessions don’t need to instruct these agencies to act, they just need to stay out of their way and allow them to act of their own initiative.

    Case in point:

    An Eastern Kentucky police chief has removed large decals with the Punisher skull and “Blue Lives Matter” from eight police cars after a backlash following the publication of a Herald-Leader story.

    Punisher description from Wikipedia: “The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence, and torture in his war on crime. Driven by the deaths of his wife and two children, who were killed by the mob for witnessing a killing in New York City’s Central Park, the Punisher wages a one-man war on the mob and all criminals in general by using all manner of conventional war weaponry.”

    Just the qualities you want in your police force who claims that police officers are victims of the public.

  25. 25.

    Villago Delenda Est

    We have entered the age of MAGA, where these thing happen as surely as the mail is delivered.

  27. 27.

    Adam L Silverman

    @? Martin: That they put the logo on and didn’t know what it was doesn’t surprise me. Its become a fashion piece in the firearms community. You can get a variety of bits and bobs for both handguns and long guns with the Punisher emblem on it. And if you’re not into comic books it just looks cool and you likely don’t have any idea that its the emblem of a vigilante that kills indiscriminately in his one man war on crime (crime being defined by him).

  30. 30.

    japa21

    The mosque burning is the work of either:
    1. A lone wolf or
    3. A mentally disturbed individual who in no way was impacted by the anti-Muslim rhetoric spouted by the administration and RW media.

    Of course, if things were described properly the term which should be used is radical Christianist terrorism.

  33. 33.

    Adria McDowell (formerly LurkerExtraordinaire)

    I…..think I might know some folks who go to this mosque. Keeping them in my thoughts. This is terrible.

    Edit: Also, too, I wonder how long it will be before someone tries to burn down that billboard about Sikhism there on I-75 south.

  34. 34.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @Mnemosyne:

    Tillerson is going to be in a world of shit, and it sometimes comes across that Tillerson actually wants to do a decent job as SoS.

    Well… he did rise thru the ranks at Exxon to become the boss… so he must be somewhat competent or he would have never gotten that far…

    I wonder if he’s having 2nd thoughts about joining Donnie’s Insane Clown Posse yet?

  35. 35.

    Mnemosyne

    Slightly OT, but a hypothetical question for our resident lawyers. (I think OO may like this one better than my usual ones.)

    Let’s say for a minute (hypothetically) that Arizona’s court system is corrupt and partisan enough to uphold the law that their legislature just passed to seize the assets of anyone who conspires to protest. What happens if the conspirators are residents of neighboring blue California? Could AZ seize anything in CA before the CA attorney general tells them to go fuck themselves?

  40. 40.

    FlyingToaster

    @Thru the Looking Glass…: Unlike OO, IANAL, but…

    When a state law attempts to nullify the federal constiution, Bill-o-Rights, or amendments, it’s challenged in Federal court.

    When a state law violates its own constitution, the law gets challenged in state court. This is how Goodridge v Dept. of Public Health ended up in Massachusetts courts, not federal, because the “hetero marriages only” policy violated a provision in our constitution.

    I don’t believe that Arizona has a freedom of assembly, freedom of petition clause in their constitution, so to the feds it goes.

  41. 41.

    scav

    The Dastardly Australians are also getting caught up in the mighty net. Australian children’s author Mem Fox detained by US border control

    Fox, who is famous worldwide for her best-selling books including Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes and Possum Magic, was en route to a conference in Milwaukee earlier this month when she was stopped.
    She told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation she was questioned by border agents for two hours in front of a room full of people – an experience that left her feeling like she had been physically assaulted.

    Not unexpectedly, she can’t imagine returning to the US.

  42. 42.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Thru the Looking Glass…:

    Well… he did rise thru the ranks at Exxon to become the boss… so he must be somewhat competent or he would have never gotten that far…

    The Peter Principle comes to mind: “In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”

    Obligatory ETA: Curse you, efgoldman!

  44. 44.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @efgoldman: Oh yeah… but I don’t think he would have gotten that far if that was the case… some dead end vice presidency, yes… but CEO for 10 years? They would have eaten him alive long before that… besides that, Tillerson was an Eagle Scout, back in 1965, and that pretty much settles THAT question, no?

  46. 46.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @SiubhanDuinne: He didn’t inherit his position in the world, like Drumpf…

    I’m not interested in defending him… I just suspect he probably is pretty sharp…

  47. 47.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @scav:

    I saw an article earlier today that indicated she has traveled to the USA more than 100 times. I am just heartsick for what is happening to this country and what citizens of other nations must think of us. I hope they realise that an actual MAJORITY of us are appalled and offended by what is happening, and do not consider that the Orange Shitgibbon speaks or acts for us.

  51. 51.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @Omnes Omnibus: So was Scott Walker… I think we’re seeing a pattern here…

    I’ve personally always considered the Boy Scouts to be a proto-fascist paramilitary organization…

    Just sayin’… and that’s speaking as an ex-Scout…

  58. 58.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @? Martin: Okay… we’re definitely seeing a pattern here…

    Goes back to my comment about a proto-fascist paramilitary organization…

  60. 60.

    Lyrebird

    @scav: That is horrible. Mem Fox is probably not as important as Frederick Douglass in the grand scheme of things, but I hope her books get a huge boost.

    We have the “time for bed” board book and I LOVE reading it… if ya wanna do a little consumer activism & know anyone with a baby/toddler, it’s very sweet and has engaging artwork.

  61. 61.

    Lyrebird

    @Omnes Omnibus: & my grandfather!

    ETA: my grandfather who also took a special trip to visit an acquaintance who’d been blacklisted by Joe McCarthy and who took another special trip to attend a march on that big grassy mall in Washington.

  64. 64.

    efgoldman

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    A state court can strike down a state law for violating the First Amendment.

    “Can” is the operative word here. In a RWNJ state with elected judges… (don’t know that AZ judges are elected)

  65. 65.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @danielx: Well, honestly, there were some good things about being in the Scouts… and there were also aspects of it that really bothered me…

  66. 66.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @Omnes Omnibus: That was semi-sarcasm on my part… I was a Boy Scout all the way up to Life Scout and there were some good things about the experience…

  68. 68.

    FlyingToaster

    @efgoldman: Yeah, I was thinking of that Ten Commandments asshat from ¿Alabama?. After being disciplined, he got elected a state Supreme Court judge. Yeesh.

  69. 69.

    efgoldman

    @FlyingToaster:

    After being disciplined, he got elected a state Supreme Court judge. Yeesh.

    Yeah, him and dozens more like him who aren’t as publicized.

    I agree with Professor Pierce that elected judges may be the worst idea in American history (or something like that – not searching for it)

  72. 72.

    frosty

    @Thru the Looking Glass…: Proto-fascist military organization? Not the troop I was in or the Pack I led for my boys. The troop was democratic from the bottom up with the kids choosing their patrol leaders. That’s the way it’s supposed to be organized

    Eagle, card signed by LBJ. Missed Nixon by a year thank FSM.

    PS Fuck LBJ (for Raven) and fuck Nixon (for me).

  73. 73.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @frosty: I was stuck in upstate NY at the time and my perception of the situation was clearly tainted by other considerations… I used to refer to upstate as either the American Outback, the Land That Time Forgot, or Deliverance Country… I HATED it there and couldn’t wait to leave… I’ve been back twice in 40 years and the last time was over 30 years ago…

    And like I said above… there were good parts of the experience…

  74. 74.

    frosty

    Eagle Scouts: from my experience and from watching my sons and the kids in their pack… if you’re the kind of person who, if they give you a list of stuff to do with a reward, and that motivates you, and you can focus and work through the list, you can make Eagle. Has nothing to do with politics, authoritarianism, etc. Just being goal oriented to get things done.

  75. 75.

    frosty

    @Thru the Looking Glass…: Upstate NY sounds a lot like South PA. I couldn’t wait to leave and I’m mortified that I’m back.

    For me it was my friends, the hiking and camping, earning merit badges to learn how to take care of myself (cooking, first aid, lifesaving, etc), 2 weeks away from the Ps at summer camp. Also learning to blow stuff up with saltpeter and sugar. :-)

  77. 77.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @efgoldman: Depends on the Judges, AND it depends on what Constitution they’re referencing. Oregon’s First Amendmentish protections are a bit more detailed than the US Constitution, less open to interpretation and have been used in the past to be very very serious about free speech/free press.

  80. 80.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @frosty: South PA? Appalachia… I’ve seen sociology maps that include upstate, all the way to Lake Ontario, in Appalachia… not surprised they would be similar… I grew up on a dirt road… my maternal grandmother had an outhouse & hand pump in the kitchen right up to the late 60’s…

  85. 85.

    frosty

    @Thru the Looking Glass…: Not Appalachia, south central, Piedmont. We’re a Baltimore suburb. That being said, I’ll bet there are more Confederate flags in York County than Baltimore County. I won’t say the same for Carroll Co MD though.

  86. 86.

    efgoldman

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I am now a civilian.

    My dad retired after 22 years. My mom never, ever referred to it. She hated the army.
    Except for the pension and medical care.

  88. 88.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @frosty: As I recall, the folks that got to the Piedmont late, after all the good stuff had been grabbed already, ended up in Appalachia… which probably helps explain Appalachia…

    My family has been in upstate NY since the 1790’s, when that was the frontier… kind of like a northern version of the Snopes…

    Northernbilliy is an actual sociology term, I believe…

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