Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/726387
ByTerrySpencer The Associated Press FORT PIERCE, FLA. The mosque that Orlando night- club gunman Omar Ma- teen attended was heavily damaged in an arson fire that Muslim leaders said was the latest incident in an escalating campaign of harassment and violence against the house of wor- ship and its members. Given the timing — Sun- day's 15th anniversary of 9/11 and the start of the Muslim holiday Eid al- Adha — investigators be- lieve the blaze that broke out shortly before midnight Sunday at the Islamic Cen- ter of Fort Pierce may have been a hate crime, St. Lucie County sheriff's spokesman Maj. David Thompson said. No one was injured. The fire burned a 10-by-10-foot hole in the roof at the back of the mosque's main build- ing and blackened its eaves with soot. A surveillance video from the mosque showed a man on a motorcycle approach- ing the building with a bot- tle of liquid and some pa- pers, then leaving when there was a flash and shak- ing his hand as though he may have burned it, Thomp- son said. The arsonist "is terroriz- ing our community because we don't know where he is at and we don't know what he is capable of doing," said Wilfredo Amr Ruiz, a Florida spokesman for the Council on American-Is- lamic Relations. Mateen was killed by po- lice after opening fire at the Pulse nightclub June 12 in a rampage that left 49 vic- tims dead and 53 wounded. He professed allegiance to the Islamic State group. His father is among roughly 100 people who attend the mosque. Ruiz said the mosque and its worshippers have been harassed since the massa- cre. "First there were threat- ing voicemails," he said. "Then drivers would splash water on the parishioners leaving on Fridays, and then a member got beat up in the parking lot when he came to the mosque for early morning prayers, and now the mosque has been set on fire." The mosque has received more threats since the nightclub shooting than it did in its previous 20 years of existence, assistant imam Hamaad Rahman said. "For this to happen to us on the morning of our big- gest celebration of the year has made everyone sad- dened and scared, but our community is bigger than a building. We are stron- ger than that," he said. "I feel we will be able to pull together from this, and as time goes by we will be able to rebuild." FLORIDA MosquewhereOrlando gunman worshipped set on fire ST.LUCIESHERIFF'SOFFICE Firefighters work at the scene of a fire at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce on Monday in Fort Pierce, Fla. By Jonathan Drew The Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. Federal of- ficials announced plans Monday to sharply reduce the territory of the world's only wild population of red wolves — a move that con- servationists say will rele- gate the endangered ani- mals to zoos. Starting in late 2017 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice plans to limit wild red wolves to a federal wildlife refuge and some adjacent land in eastern North Car- olina's Dare County, rather than the five-county area where they currently roam. Wolves that stray beyond those boundaries would be captured and placed in a captive breeding program, said Leopoldo Miranda, an assistant regional direc- tor for the wildlife service. The new plan is contingent on modifying current pro- gram rules after a public comment period. Federal officials had been considering whether to con- tinue, modify or abandon the program after a lengthy review and complaints from some landowners that the wolves cause problems when they stray onto pri- vate land. They also said Monday that the wild population of wolves has dwindled to about 45, less than half its post-reintroduction peak. Conservationists decried the new plan. "They're making Dare County into a glorified hold- ing pen for a handful of red wolves," said Ron Suther- land, a scientist with the Wildlands Network who has studied the wolves. "Any wolves that make the mistake of leaving the fed- eral lands will get shipped off to zoos as punishment." Sutherland estimated the wildlife refuge could hold 15 wolves at most. Federal officials said a significant motivation for the plan is to double the current captive population of approximately 200 red wolves to make it sustain- able. They say mixing wild wolves with those in captiv- ity will help increase breed- ing pairs. "The most stunning data shows the captive popula- tion is not secure. We be- lieved it was, but it is not. If we continue with the status quo, we will likely lose the captive population," said Cindy Dohner, the wildlife service's southeast regional director. The wildlife service said it will also look for new areas elsewhere to introduce red wolves to the wild, though conser- vationists described that idea as far-flung given how complex it would be to negotiate with a state for new territory. Once common around the Southeast, the red wolf had been considered extinct in the wild as of 1980 be- cause of factors including hunting and habitat loss. Releases of red wolves bred in captivity started in 1987. The wild population peaked at around 130 wolves in 2006, according to court documents, and stayed above 100 for years. WILDLIFE Re d wo lf t er ri to ry s ha rp ly reduced under new federal plan Sponsoredby The Saturday Market SlowFood Shasta Cascade ® 8-12:30, every Saturday Home Depot parking lot Your community YEAR-ROUND Certified Farmers & Artisan Market LocalProduce- Always Good Eatin'! 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