WASHINGTON - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Friday called for an FBI hate crime investigation of a alleged firebomb attack on a Muslim family’s home in that state.
CAIR said a Muslim family of South Asian origin in Panama City, Florida, reported that a firebomb or ‘Molotov cocktail’ was thrown at their house on Wednesday.
The occupants heard a ‘thump’ and went outside to find a 4-foot-wide fire burning under the father’s bedroom window. A CAIR press release quoting family members, who were not identified, said the firebomb had apparently been thrown at the father’s window but missed the target.
The fire was extinguished with a hose. Five adults, some of whom wear Islamic head scarves, were home at the time. Local police and the state fire marshal are investigating. CAIR has contacted the FBI to ask for a hate crime investigation.
“Any time the home of a family belonging to an ethnic or religious minority is attacked in this manner, it is necessary to investigate a possible bias motive,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.
Hooper said this incident is just one of a number of recent apparent hate attacks targeting American Muslims and their institutions nationwide.