Florida man jailed for 15 years for vandalising mosque

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.,A man who vandalized a Florida mosque in January 2016 and left a raw slab of bacon on its doorstep was sentenced to 15 years in prison on a hate crime conviction, a state attorney´s spokesman said on Wednesday.

Michael Wolfe, 37, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to criminal mischief to a place of worship in a case considered a felony hate crime, said Todd Brown, spokesman for Florida´s 18th Judicial District, which includes Brevard and Seminole counties.

Surveillance video after the 2016 incident showed a man with a shaved head and camouflage clothing breaking windows, cameras and lights with a machete at the mosque in Titusville, Florida, near Cape Canaveral, police said.

Muslims are prohibited from consuming pork products including bacon, and hate groups have used pork products as a way to desecrate US mosques, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.

The Islamic Society of Central Florida Masjid Al-Munin Mosque agreed with prosecutors and defense attorneys in determining Wolfe´s sentence, Brown said. “The Florida Muslim Community is suffering an unprecedented number of hate crimes," Florida CAIR spokesman Wilfredo Ruiz said in a statement issued on Wednesday.