Jewish Ex-Con Gets 30 Years for Torching Florida Mosque
Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — A Jewish ex-convict was sentenced to 30 years in prison for setting fire to a mosque that the Orlando nightclub shooter occasionally attended.
Joseph Schreiber, 32, pleaded no contest Monday in a hearing in the district courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida, and was also ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution. He had confessed to police that he set fire to the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce last September 11, the 15th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Omar Mateen was killed by police officers after opening fire at the Pulse nightclub on June 12 in a rampage that killed 49 people and wounded 53.
The fire destroyed the mosque, causing more than $100,000 in damages, and the leaders recently announced they would move it to a new location. Mateen’s father is among the some 100 regular worshippers at the mosque.
Before he was sentenced, Schreiber read a written statement, saying he had acted not out of hate, but anxiety.
“My message is this to all the Muslim communities on the face of the earth: Make peace with America and make peace with Israel and stop the killings, stop the attacks,” he said.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Israeli left-wing group suspended at University of Haifa after protesting the war in Gaza
-
Fast Forward Jordanian national in Florida sentenced to 6 years for targeting businesses he believed supported Israel
-
Fast Forward A ‘Golden Dome for America,’ inspired by Israel, is part of Trump’s 2026 budget request
-
Fast Forward Halal restaurant opening in Congress is like ‘Muslim conquest of Jerusalem,’ says GOP congressman
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
- 2
News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
- 3
Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
- 4
News Why Zohran Mamdani believes he’ll win over Jewish voters, as Israel critic surges to second behind Cuomo in NYC mayoral race
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Israeli left-wing group suspended at University of Haifa after protesting the war in Gaza
-
Fast Forward Jordanian national in Florida sentenced to 6 years for targeting businesses he believed supported Israel
-
Fast Forward A ‘Golden Dome for America,’ inspired by Israel, is part of Trump’s 2026 budget request
-
Books How Jews shaped the Western – and how the Western shaped Jews
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.