Fire burns Eastside (Bellevue, WA) mosque; one arrested
Source: KOMO News
BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Fire badly damaged an Eastside mosque early Saturday morning. Officials are calling the fire suspicious, and one man is under arrest. 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.
Bellevue police say a 37-yeear-old man was arrested behind the building. He is being investigated for arson. Police say he is the only suspect. Police and fire investigators will be on the scene throughout the day to investigate the possible arson.
Officials are expected to hold a news conference about the fire late Saturday afternoon.
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.
Meanwhile, an online campaign has begun to raise money to rebuild the mosque: https://www.launchgood.com/project/rebuilding_of_islamic_center_of_eastside_washington#/
Read more: http://komonews.com/news/local/fire-burns-eastside-mosque-one-arrested
= new reply since forum marked as read
I grew up there. My church growing up shares their parking lot with the Moseque and my high school is just down the street. Growing up Bellevue was solidly republican and white with a strong Asian immigrant community. It's been a nice change to watch, even among my family
Horrible people. 
