Firebomb attacks in New York eyed as hate crimes

Homemade explosives were hurled at a corner store, the Imam Al-Khoei Islamic Center and two homes in Queens, NY between 8pm and 10:15pm last Sunday.

All of the targets were within two miles of each other.

“They definitely appear to be quite similar,” a police source said, “We’re looking into them as bias crimes.”

There were no reports of injuries, but a home on 107th Ave. was heavily damaged.

“When I came to the front of the house it was ablaze already,” said Monty Burnett, the homeowner. “It started on the front window and came into the house.”

Burnett and his wife, who are African-American and Christian, were left shaken and homeless by the attack.

“We’re okay,” said Sonia Burnett. “But why me? Why my house. I didn’t do anything.”

Up to 80 people were at the Islamic center at about 9pm when someone threw two or three Molotov cocktails at the building, witnesses said.

Ali Rizdi, who attends the mosque, said he ran outside and began stomping out the fire. He said one of the gas bombs was fashioned from a glass Starbucks Frappuccino bottle.

“We are shocked,” Rizdi said. “We live in the U.S. This is our country.”

A corner store was also targeted about the same time as the mosque, police said.

The home of a Hindu family on 170th St. was attacked at 10:14pm, but the two makeshift bombs that were hurled burned out before they could damage the house.

The homeowner told police he saw the drive-by attack on his security camera.

ORIGINAL SOURCE
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