The FBI has been hunting for a suspect in the first fire. He was photographed by a security camera tossing a burning object onto the mosque. In the second fire, that security camera was consumed by the flames, so the FBI has no idea if the arsonist was the same man or a copycat.
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said the Joplin mosque was a total loss.
Imam Lahmuddin, who leads the mosque, told the Associated Press in a telephone interview Monday, “Since we are people of faith, we just can remember that this is a thing that happened because God let it happen, and we have to be patient, particularly in the month of Ramadan, control our emotions, our anger.”
A fire at the mosque July 4 caused minor damage and was determined to be arson. No arrests have yet made and the FBI has offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to charges in that fire.
The agency released video footage of what appeared to be a man starting the July blaze, which did damage to the roof.
The FBI is investigating the cause of the latest fire.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations called for more police protection at mosques and other houses of worship following the Joplin fire and a deadly shooting attack at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.
The Islamic Society of Joplin opened in 2007. The FBI led an investigation in 2008 when the mosque’s sign was torched. That crime also remains unsolved.
While arson is normally a violation of state law, it is a violation of federal law to commit arson and vandalism against houses of worship either because of the race or ethnicity of the group using the property or, in certain circumstances, because of the religious nature of the property.