http://queenscourier.com/2012/update-hate-crime-suspect-confesses-to-molotov-cocktail-attacks/
The “hate crime” firebomber in Queens has confessed, but officials are still being coy about ethnic / religious identity and citizenship status.
The trigger seems to have been the firebomber was accused of shoplifting starbucks bottles from a bodega. For those not familiar with the concept, a bodega is a small store that sells food and other things in really really dangerous neighborhoods. Typically, the cashiers are in a locked room behind bullet proof glass. They usually are run by immigrants and used by poor people who don’t have access to better places to shop.
The bomber threatened the owner and that was one of the places he firebombed. He them bombed other places which he had a grievance with – a Muslim community center and a Hinducultural center.
Don’t rush to a conclusion that he is anti-Muslim.
Police sketch
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/01/suspect-questioned-in-queens-firebombings.html
Muslim folks from Yemen ran the bodega, according to news reports.
To my eye, the suspect looks to be East African, not an American ancestor of West African slaves… Meaning he is also likely Muslim – perhaps Somali or a refugee from Sudan
Police say he was driving a car with Virginia plates
From the Boston globe
“Ray Lazier Lengend, 40, of Guyanese descent”
The car he was driving with Virginia plates was stolen. The reason he bombed the Islamic center was they wouldn’t let him use their bathroom
NY Times adds that he is a crackhead, an unemployed truck driver and most of the targets were from Guyana
Wsj adds he was a tow truck driver, had a psychiatric history, is a naturalized citizen and one of the targets was his inlaws house
Guyana is on the northern coast of South America and reflects what you would expect being involved in the slave trade and commerce. The population is a mix of former slave descendents, native Indians, and assorted immigrants. The country is about half Christian, 1/3 hindu, 10% Muslim and a smattering of others including Rastafarians.
Interestingly, about 1/3 of the entire population of the country now live in the United States.
Picture:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2773896.ece
The Arab slave trade moved a lot of East Africans to India to be slaves, which helps to explain why there are African hindus with unusual family histories. The Indian caste system was just a more subtle form of slavery- many of the people in the lower castes ended up being sent to Guyana as indentured servants
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_South_America
Anti-muslim???? Nah… muslims have been killing each other for the last 500 years.