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Arsonist jailed for Texas mosque burning

By AFP
October 19, 2018

CHICAGO: An arsonist convicted of burning down a Texas mosque last year was sentenced Wednesday to more than 24 years in prison for a crime prosecutors said was motivated by hate. Marq Perez had been found guilty in July of a hate crime and felony arson in the January 2017 burning of the Victoria Islamic Center in Southeast Texas. The 26-year-old had broken into the mosque a week before the arson in order to conduct reconnaissance, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement citing trial testimony.