Randolph Linn of Ohio set fire to a prayer room of a mosque on Sept. 30, after claiming to be "riled up" after watching Fox News. Linn pleaded guilty to the crime today and admitted consuming 45 beers in seven hours. In addition to his drunken state-of-mind and his Fox News brainwashing, Linn confessed that he does not know what Islam is really about. All he knows is that they do not believe in Jesus Christ as the savior. Therefore, he vandalized a mosque.
His religious motives stand out to me the most. Linn did not commit arsony because he drunk. He committed it because he was willfully ignorant. He fed his brain with the racist propaganda of right-wing media. We are not talking about a child who does not know any better. We are talking about a grown man who digests anything that makes sense to him rather than exploring new possibilities on his own.
Linn threatened the lives of innocent Muslim families based on the bias, radical right-wing propaganda fed to him on Fox News. I do not feel sorry for Linn, and I hope he gets the punishment he deserves for his willful ignorance. Michael Tobin, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice said that Linn used violence to respond to the Muslim terrorist attacks at the U.S. Embassies in the Middle East. According to Tobin, Linn believed the Muslims in the U.S. were getting a "free pass".
The people he threatened were not terrorists. They were innocent. Linn's target was no mere coincidence, as you will realize from his motives. His act represents ignorance and bigotry. I agree with the statement made by Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio:
Although this violence took place in one mosque in Toledo, as Americans we are all victims. The fire in this case wasn't just aimed at destroying a mosque. It was designed to deprive our community of one of our most cherished freedoms.
Linn's move was calculated to infringe on the religious freedom of U.S. citizens. Our country supposedly guarantees the right to practice whatever religion we wish, but hate crimes such as this may make citizens question how safe their freedoms are from people such as Linn. When Linn set fire to the mosque, he proved that he is no better than the terrorists who attacked the embassy.
Linn was sentenced to 20 years in prison, so he is being appropriately punished. However, I feel that willful ignorance should be punished with something more. I guess his sentence will have to do.
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