A Florida mosque whose worshipers included Orlando-massacre gunman Omar Mateen erupted in flames early Monday — and authorities say the blaze was an arson hate crime.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Department released surveillance video showing the suspected firebug on a Harley Davidson-style motorcycle rolling up to the Islamic Center in Fort Pierce late Sunday.
In the 41-second clip, the mysterious man is seen approaching the northeast side of the mosque, followed by a bright flash of light just minutes later. He’s described as white or Hispanic and wearing a white shirt and dark baggy jeans.
With a bandanna covering the lower portion of his face, the man is then seen dashing from the fiery building and carrying what appears to be a “paper and a bottle of some type of liquid,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.
At one point, the suspect is seen shaking his arm, possibly after burning his hand, police said.
The fire was set on the three-month anniversary of the June 12 massacre at the Pulse nightclub, where Mateen — the ISIS-inspired killer — slaughtered 49 people and wounded scores more.
St. Lucie County Firefighters were called at 12:31 a.m. to the Islamic Center, where they quickly extinguished the suspicious blaze, officials said. No injuries were reported.
The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were also investigating and released a joint statement saying the arson was being treated as a hate crime.
The blaze also comes on the heels of Sunday’s 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
“Right now I don’t want to speculate on a motive,” Thompson said during an overnight press conference. “We all know the implications of the date and the time of year, this is the 9/11 anniversary. Is that related? I would not want to speculate but it is in the back of our minds.”
Thompson added, “This is a horrible tragedy, not only for the Islamic Center, but also for our community.”
Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS just before he entered the gay hotspot with a semi-automatic rifle and killed dozens of clubgoers in the deadliest mass shooting in US history. He was shot dead during a shootout with police.
Mateen, 29, had been a frequent visitor to the Islamic Center along with Moner Mohammad Abu Salha, the first known American suicide bomber in Syria who died on behalf of terror group Al Nusra Front, according to WPEC TV news.
The FBI probed Mateen for terrorist ties to Abu Salha, but only found a “minimal” connection and not a “substantive relationship or threat at that time,” WPEC reported.