Fire burns Bellevue mosque; 1 arrested for arson

A suspected arson fire badly damaged a Bellevue mosque early Saturday morning.

"We believe this fire was intentionally set," said Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett.

One man is under arrest for investigation of arson. Officials said he had been at the mosque before and had previously been arrested there.

Firefighters arrived at the Islamic Center of the Eastside in the 14700 block of Main Street at 2:49 a.m. to find 40-foot flames coming from the rear of the building. Firefighters managed to save half of the building and conducted salvage operations to preserve holy books and electronic equipment.

"We view this as an attack on our entire community," said Mylett. He said a 37-year-old man was arrested in a parking lot behind the mosque. He was lying down when found, Mylett said.

He was jailed for investigation of second-degree arson and on a warrant for malicious mischief from Seattle.

Mylett declared the fire arson, saying he based that conclusion on evidence from the scene, including video footage, and what the suspect told officers.

He said the arson was not an act of terrorism or part of some sort of a coordinated attack but added the suspect's motive was unclear.

Deputy prosecutor Mike Hogan said the suspect had prior contacts with the mosque. In fact, police said the suspect had previously been arrested for making a disturbance at there.

Hogan said he expects arson charges will be filed Tuesday.

Members of the Bellevue Fire Department, Bellevue Police Department and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigate the scene of an alleged arson fire at the Islamic Center of the Eastside in Bellevue on Saturday morning, Jan. 14, 2017. The fire began early Saturday morning. One suspect was reportedly in custody. The backside of the building was destroyed. less Members of the Bellevue Fire Department, Bellevue Police Department and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigate the scene of an alleged arson fire at the Islamic Center of ... more Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Fire burns Bellevue mosque; 1 arrested for arson 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

The fire left members of the mosque stunned.

"It makes us feel terrible, you know?" said Fazal Hassan, the imam at the mosque. "Disappointed."

He later urged the community to pray for peace.

Noman Noor has been coming to the mosque since 1997. "We'd like to know why. What was the reasoning?"

Prayers were held Saturday at the Highland Community Center because of the fire.

The "cowardly act of one individual has impacted a house of worship," said Bellevue Mayor John Stokes, who called the fire "a terrible incident."

There were no injuries in the fire. No one was inside the building.

Police and fire investigators were on the scene throughout the day to investigate the possible arson. Investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) joined them.

Meanwhile, members of the community have been dropping off flowers and balloons.

There have been repeated incidents of threats and vandalism at the Bellevue mosque and others in recent months. A man was charged this week with a hate crime for threatening people there on Jan. 6, and a granite sign outside the Muslim Association of Puget Sound in neighboring Redmond was damaged twice.

Bellevue police do not believe the Redmond incidents are related to the Bellevue fire.

Meanwhile, an online campaign has begun to raise money to rebuild the mosque.

The Associated Press contributed to this report</s>Police arrested a 37-year-old man in connection with the fire that destroyed the north side of the Eastside mosque.

Police believe someone set the fire that badly damaged a Bellevue mosque early Saturday.

Police and firefighters responded to the Islamic Center of Eastside at 2:44 a.m. after a witness reported flames coming from the building. The fire destroyed the north side of the building, and it was extinguished a short time later.

No one was inside the mosque, at 14700 Main St., during the fire, police said.

Services at the mosque are suspended until further notice, according to mosque officials. Prayers on Saturday were relocated to the Highland Community Center, according to a notice on the mosque’s website.

Police found a 37-year-old man near the building. He was arrested on suspicion of arson, and police say they believe he is the sole suspect.

A news conference was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Bellevue City Hall.

Arsalan Bukhari, executive director of the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), urged people to not jump to conclusions about the motive behind the suspected arson.

“We need to learn more,” he said. “In most hate-crime cases, we have some indication if there’s a bias motive. In this case, we don’t have any indication.”

Bellevue police and the FBI had briefed CAIR and mosque leaders on their early assessment of the fire, Bukhari said. He declined to share their views.

Varisha Khan, a senior at the University of Washington who grew up on the Eastside, had planned to attend midday services at the mosque on Saturday with her family.

“It was really my second home,” she said. “I was crying for quite a while.”

Khan was reluctant to speculate on the cause of the fire. Still, “this did not happen in a vacuum,” she said. “This mosque itself, it’s received threats. Hate speech does inspire attacks.”

Earlier this week, a 36-year-old Auburn man who had allegedly threatened to kill members of the Islamic Center of Eastside was charged with malicious harassment, a hate crime.

Kamal Samater was arrested Jan. 6 in the mosque’s parking lot, after telling the alleged victim he was “going to assassinate every one” at the mosque, and yelling “there is no place in America for Muslims.”

Another Eastside mosque has recently been targeted by vandalism. In Redmond, the sign in front of the Muslim Association of Puget Sound was damaged last month, much as it had been weeks earlier.

Redmond police said they were notified the morning of Dec. 17 that the metal face of a granite slab in front of the mosque had been damaged overnight. At the time, police asked for the public’s help in finding the person responsible. Police described looking for a tall, thin, young white male wearing dark clothing and a dark baseball cap.

Police added at the time they were not immediately divulging full details, but were investigating that incident and a similar one Nov. 21 at the mosque — the largest mosque in the Puget Sound region — as possible hate crimes.

In August, Redmond police received several anonymous calls threatening worshippers at that mosque.

Those calls followed a mass shooting at an Orlando, Fla., nightclub. The gunman in that attack killed 49 people and had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, law-enforcement officials said. He was killed by a SWAT team.</s>A mosque was badly burnt outside Seattle city and the police arrested a 37-year-old man in connection with the incident, saying that the fire was intentionally set, CNN reported.

The incident occurred on Saturday in Bellevue, Washington, when no one was inside the Islamic Centre of Eastside, said the report on Sunday.

Firefighters spotted 40-foot flames on the back side of the building. “Crews were able to save half of the building,” CNN affiliate KCPQ reported.

“We have confirmed it was arson, but do not know a motive,” Bellevue Police chief Steve Mylett said. A man, identified as Isaac Wayne Wilson, was charged with felony malicious mischief and is being investigated for arson, Mylett said.

The suspect was found lying on the ground at the back of the building and is currently at the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle.

Investigators were not currently considering the act a hate crime, said the report.

Deputy prosecutor Mike Hogan said that “the suspect had prior contacts with the mosque and had previously been arrested for making a disturbance at the mosque.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations in a Facebook post urged people “not to jump to conclusions about the motive” and said “please give authorities time to investigate.”

The facility, also known as the Bellevue Masjid, is closed until further notice “due to the fire,” its website said.</s>BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) — A man is in custody after a suspicious fire severely damaged a Washington state mosque overnight.

The fire was reported early Saturday at the Islamic Center of the Eastside in Bellevue. Authorities say that as firefighters doused the flames, police found a man near the building and arrested him for investigation of arson. He’s identified as 37-year-old Isaac Wayne Wilson. Investigators believe he’s the sole suspect.

The mosque was unoccupied at the time and no injuries were reported.

There have been repeated incidents of threats and vandalism at the Bellevue mosque and others in recent months. A man was charged this week with a hate crime for threatening people there on Jan. 6, and a granite sign outside the Muslim Association of Puget Sound in neighboring Redmond was damaged twice</s>Police have arrested a man in connection with the fire who has had contact with the mosque in the past

BELLEVUE, WA - Bellevue police confirmed at a Saturday press conference that the early-morning fire at the Islamic Center of Eastside was intentionally set, and said that the man arrested in connection with the fire has been arrested at the mosque before.

Police arrested Isaac Wayne Wilson, 37, near the scene of the fire Saturday. Bellevue Chief Steve Mylett said police decided to arrest Wilson after statements he made and after reviewing surveillance video of the scene. Mylett said that Wilson was arrested at the mosque last summer on assault charges. According to police records, there was an incident of intimidation at the mosque on Jan. 6.

The mosque has been in Bellevue for about 14 years, according to its website.

The Muslim Association of Puget Sound mosque in Redmond has been targeted by vandals in recent months. A sign outside the mosque was smashed before Christmas, the second such sign-smashing in two months there. Last week, police departments met with members of the local Muslim community about safety.</s>A fire that gutted a Washington mosque was said to be started by a homeless man who had previous altercations with worshipers there.

Isaac Wayne Wilson, 37, was arrested after he was discovered lying on a ground in a parking lot near the Islamic Center of Eastside, in a Seattle suburb, where a fire broke out in the middle of the night.

Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett said Wilson was arrested on suspicion of second degree arson, and on an outstanding warrant for felony first degree malicious mischief in Seattle.

Police and fire agencies received several calls alerting them to a fire at the center around 2:45 am, and arrested the suspect withing seven minutes of the 911 call.

Firefighters found heavy fire on the first and second floors, Fire Chief Mark Risen said, adding that firefighters quickly prevented the fire from spreading to other parts of the building.

The fire completely destroyed the north side of the 1970s vintage wooden building, but there were no injuries, the Seattle Times reported.

Imam Faizel of the Islamic Center of Eastside said he was shocked by the incident.

'As a community, yes we are heartbroken, we are sad that we have lost our place of worship. I have been the imam there for 16 years and never have we ever experienced anything like this,' he told a news conference.

Imam Faizel of the Islamic Center of Eastside said he was shocked by the incident in a news conference. He said 'As a community, yes we are heartbroken, we are sad that we have lost our place of worship. I have been the imam there for 16 years and never have we ever experienced anything like this'

It was the only mosque in Bellvue, and drew thousands of people for prayer, according to the Seattle times.

The motive remains unknown, Mylett said, and the incident is under investigation.

Court records show that Wilson has had run-ins for years with the police, according to KUOW.

He is currently being held at the King County Correctinal Facility in Seattle without bail, and authorities are looking into whether or not this was a hate crime, according to CNN.

The mosque solicited donations on its web site to rebuild, saying 'Together we can build something better, bigger, and beautiful.'

Mayor John Stokes said during a news conference: 'We want our Muslim brothers and sisters to know we stand with them'.

He also said that fire fighters were able to salvage many of the mosque's holy books, which are important to the place of worship, reported the Seattle Times.

Mosque leaders are posting updates to the Muslim community, and have launched a rebuilding fund on on LaunchGood, with a $500,000 goal.

Varisha Khan, a senior at the University of Washington, said to the Times: 'It was really my second home. I was crying for quite a while.'

The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington state posted on Facebook, asking people not to: 'jump to conclusions about the motive,' saying that authorities 'have the situation under control', according to CNN.</s>A mosque was badly burnt in the United States on Saturday, CNN reports.

The police believe the fire was intentionally set.

The mosque, the Islamic Center of Eastside in Bellevue, Washington, was empty at the time of the fire.

“Crews were able to save half of the building,” CNN affiliate KCPQ reported..

“We have confirmed it was arson, but do not know a motive,” Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett was quoted as saying.

A suspect, Isaac Wilson, has since been charged with felony malicious mischief and is being investigated for arson.

The mosque has since been closed down due to the fire.</s>SEATTLE (AP) — A man arrested after a suspicious fire severely damaged a Washington state mosque early Saturday had previously caused a ruckus when he interrupted a prayer service there last summer, a mosque official said.

The fire was reported at about 2:45 a.m. Saturday at the Islamic Center of the Eastside in Bellevue. Authorities said that as firefighters doused the flames, police found a 37-year-old man near the building and arrested him for investigation of arson and malicious mischief.

The fire destroyed the back of the building, but the extent of the damage was not yet clear, mosque board member Tanvir Rahman said in a phone interview. He described the suspect as mentally disturbed — which is how the suspect described himself in at least one of his many prior encounters with the police, court records show.

“He has been there before,” Rahman said. “He came in during a prayer service a few months back and shouted some profanities. Some of the people got him out and the police took him.”

According to a police report on that incident filed in King County District Court, the suspect entered the mosque on the evening of July 28, yelling wildly and waving his arms. When a worshipper asked how he could help the man, the suspect cocked his fist and threatened him, the officer wrote.

Others grabbed him and pushed him outside, and he struck one worshipper, who declined to have the police pursue assault charges, the officer wrote. The suspect, who was described in the report as homeless, was cited for disorderly conduct.

On another occasion, the imam bought him a sandwich at a Subway restaurant, Rahman said.

The suspect, who has not been charged in the mosque fire, has been arrested more than 50 times, including many times for property damage, King County court records show.

Last June, he was arrested after smashing a window at the Nike Town store in downtown Seattle with a rock. When a Seattle police officer asked him why he did it, he responded that he was schizophrenic and wanted to go to jail, the officer noted in an incident report.

“He told me the many people trying to kill him and accuse him of crimes made him believe he should commit the crimes to go to jail,” the officer wrote.

Police spokesman Seth Tyler says investigators believe the man is the sole suspect.

A public defender who represented the man in the Nike Town vandalism did not immediately return an email Saturday. The Associated Press is withholding the man’s name because he has not been charged.

The mosque was unoccupied at the time and no injuries were reported.

There have been repeated incidents of threats and vandalism at the Bellevue mosque and others in recent months. A man was charged this week with a hate crime for threatening people there on Jan. 6, and a granite sign outside the Muslim Association of Puget Sound in neighboring Redmond was damaged twice.

This story has been corrected to show that while the suspect had previously been to the mosque, he was not known to have worshipped there.</s>Police arrested a 37-year-old man in connection with the fire that destroyed the north side of the Eastside mosque.

Police believe someone set a fire that badly damaged a Bellevue mosque early Saturday.

Police and firefighters responded to the Islamic Center of the Eastside at 2:44 a.m. after a witness reported flames coming from the building. The fire destroyed the north side of the building, and was extinguished a short time later.

No one was inside the mosque, at 14700 Main St., during the fire, police said.

Police found a 37-year-old man near the building. He was arrested on suspicion of arson, and police say they believe he is the sole suspect.

A news conference was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Bellevue City Hall.</s>A Washington man was arrested on Saturday on charges of setting fire to an Islamic center in Bellevue, Washington, authorities said.

Isaac Wayne Wilson, 37, was arrested after he was discovered in a parking lot near the Islamic Center of Eastside, where a fire broke out in the middle of the night.

Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett said Wilson was arrested on suspicion of second degree arson, and on an outstanding warrant for felony first degree malicious mischief in Seattle.

Police and fire agencies received several calls alerting them to a fire at the center around 2:45 a.m. Firefighters found heavy fire on the first and second floors, Fire Chief Mark Risen said, adding that firefighters quickly prevented the fire from spreading to other parts of the building.

There were no injuries, Risen said.

Imam Faizel of the Islamic Center of Eastside said he was shocked by the incident.

“As a community, yes we are heartbroken, we are sad that we have lost our place of worship. I have been the imam there for 16 years and never have we ever experienced anything like this,” he told a news conference.

The motive remains unknown, Mylett said, and the incident is under investigation.

The mosque solicited donations on its web site to rebuild, saying “Together we can build something better, bigger, and beautiful.”
A suspected arsonist is arrested after a fire destroys a mosque in Bellevue, Washington.