New Tampa Mosque Fire Was Arson, Mayor Says

A fire set at the Daarus Salaam Mosque on Morris Bridge Rd., just north of Cross Creek Blvd., did not cause any major damage or injure anyone, but it was definitely arson, Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn said at a new conference Friday morning.

Standing behind police tape and in front of the mosque, which is owned by the Islamic Society of Tampa, Buckhorn was flanked by a number of members of the local Muslim community and said such acts will not be tolerated.

“There are tens of thousands of Tampanians who are not Muslim, but today we stand with our Muslim community and say not on my watch, not in my city,” Buckhorn said. “We will not tolerate this.”

The fire was set at the men’s entrance on the north side of the mosque around 2 a.m., and sprinklers went off and doused many of the flames and limited the fire damage to the entrance. There is significant water damage to the mosque, however.

“The community, because of current events, has fears that this could be a hate-related incident,” said Thania Diaz-Clevenger, civil rights director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Mazen Bondogji, a board member at the Islamic Society of New Tampa, said that the front gate, which is locked every night at 8:30 p.m., was locked when firefighters arrived a little after 2 a.m.

Friday prayer services (which are equivalent to, for example, Sunday services for Catholics) were cancelled as mosque members were redirected to other mosques. Bondogji said as many as 400-500 worshippers show up on Fridays.

Police found three holes in the building’s bullet-proof glass, but determined that they were not caused by firearms.

Diaz-Clevenger said that there are security cameras in the mosque and that they have been turned over to investigators. She did not say if anything was on the video, or if they had survived the sprinklers.

What did survive the incident: the spirit of Mosque goers, according to Bondogji.

“Who ever did this maybe intended to discourage us to not be a part of this community,” he said. “But this makes us stronger, because of the huge amount of support and solidarity we have received. We are part of this community, and that’s how we shall stay.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the state fire marshall’s arson tip line at 877-662-7766. Callers may remain anonymous.