A federal judge sentenced a 26-year-old man to 25 years in prison for a hate crime, burning down a mosque in Victoria, Texas, according to officials.
Marq Perez, 26, was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for burning down the Victoria Islamic Center on Jan. 28, 2017.
A jury found Perez guilty on July 16, for a hate crime in the burning of the Victoria Islamic Center (the mosque) on Jan. 28, 2017, and for the use of fire to commit a federal felony. In addition, the jury found that Perez possessed an unregistered destructive device for a separate but related incident that occurred on Jan. 15, 2017.
“The Attorney General has said that the Freedom of religion is indeed our ‘first freedom’—being the first listed right of our First Amendment,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick. “The Department of Justice prosecutes violent and dangerous crime, but also, and particularly when that crime interferes with someone’s ability to practice their religious faith. Not only was this a dangerous and potentially deadly act, but also one spurred from hate. I am glad justice was served in this case.”
“Mr. Perez sought to provoke terror within the tranquil space of the Victoria Islamic Center,” said FBI Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Edward Michel. “By deliberately burning down this mosque, Mr. Perez attacked a specific religious congregation in the hope of spreading fear, conflict and depriving Victoria’s Islamic community of their peaceful and safe place to worship. Today’s sentencing illustrates that hate crimes will not be tolerated. No one in this country should feel afraid to openly practice their religion or express their beliefs. The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate civil rights violations wherever and whenever they occur.”
Testimony at trial detailed how Perez conducted what he described as “recon” by breaking into the mosque a week before he set it on fire.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Perez communicated with someone through Facebook about breaking into the mosque a second time, the same night of the fire.
A witness who was with Perez on the night of the fire described how Perez used a lighter to set papers on fire inside the mosque and how excited Perez was upon seeing the mosque in flames just minutes later.
The witness testified that Perez said that he burned down the mosque, because he wanted to “send a message.”
During the execution of a search warrant, federal agents recovered stolen property taken from the mosque the night of the fire in Perez’s home. Several witnesses at trial also testified about Perez’s animus towards Muslims and that he often used anti-Muslim slurs.
When Perez learned that the Victoria Muslim community had raised money to rebuild the mosque, he told a witness that he would burn the mosque down again if it was rebuilt.
Members of the mosque testified at the trial that they watched from afar as federal, state, and local law enforcement officers tried to extinguish the fire, but observed that the fire could not be put out until it had engulfed the entire mosque.
Those witnesses also testified that, after the destruction of the mosque, the Victoria Islamic Center raised money online from over 20,000 individuals from all over the United States and over 90 countries to rebuild the mosque, according to officials.