Randolph Linn is behind bars after pleading guilty to federal arson and related crimes committed at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, but local Muslim leaders are concerned there may be more people like him out there.

Linn, a 52-year-old truck driver and ex-Marine from St. Joe, Ind., was initially charged with one count each of intentionally damaging religious property and using fire or explosives in commission of a felony for the Sept. 30 arson attack. A third charge, of using a firearm to commit a crime of violence, was added by a grand jury Dec. 18.

He pleaded guilty to all three counts in U.S. District Court in Toledo on Dec. 19 as part of a binding agreement and could be sentenced to 20 years in prison in April. He will also be required to pay a $250,000 fine and restitution that may exceed $1 million.

"Yes, justice has been served and the Islamic Center will be rebuilt and we will meet inside it and continue to do so. But the actual problem hasn't been dealt with," said S. Zaheer Hasan, a spokesman for the United Muslim Association of Toledo.

"There's a bad feeling, first of all because of the environment, which is becoming hateful," he said. "The arson attack was an isolated incident, but it was a product of that hatred."

Mahjabeen Islam, president of the Islamic Center, said it was "upsetting" to sit through Linn's hearing, during which the suspect vented his hatred of Muslims. "It was terrible because he was guilty, but he has no remorse at all," Islam said. "It was very apparent to everyone that he blamed the media; he blamed Fox News; he tried to blame alcohol."

Linn told U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary that prior to his crime he drank 45 beers in seven hours. He then said he spontaneously decided, after seeing a wounded U.S. soldier on television, to get into his Chevrolet Sonic and drive 82 miles from St. Joe to Perrysburg.

He brought three firearms and stopped along the way to fill three gas containers, authorities said.

Linn said in court that he had hauled his truck many times past the domed mosque at the junction of Interstates 75 and 475.

According to Islam, when Zouhary asked Linn if knew any Muslims personally, he replied, "No, I only know what I hear on the radio and see on Fox News." He told the judge that Muslims are "going around killing us," Islam said.

Zouhary told Linn that the attack on the mosque was an attack on all places of religion. "You are no better than the terrorists or extremists you sought to punish," the judge told Linn.

Islam said she believes irresponsible media coverage fanned Linn's hatred and distorted his view of her faith. "My feeling is that the media needs to be more responsible. The combination of ignorance about Muslims and Islam, and hate and alcohol, and then whipping up all of this hatred in the media, is a lethal combination," Islam said.

Damage to the mosque from the blaze and from the building's sprinkler system and firefighters' hoses is estimated at $1.5 million, Islam said, adding that insurance is covering the expenses. Repairs are scheduled to be completed by the end of March. In the meantime, the mosque is holding Friday prayers at a Rossford indoor sports complex – with added security – and the center's Islamic school meets at Owens Community College.

Islam said surveillance cameras showed Linn, wearing a camouflage hat and sweatshirt, walking through the mosque with a pistol in his left hand. He left a beer can in the women's hijab room, she said, before pouring gasoline on the carpet in the main prayer room and igniting it.

"Had somebody been there, I dread to think about what could have happened because he had a gun. If people had been there, it might have been like the [Oak Creek, Wis.] Sikh temple shooting."

Toledo Free Press, 28 December 2012

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Controversial anti-Islamic Dutch MP Geert Wilders will face protests from Muslims and others in Melbourne next month.

The Baillieu Government has also warned that Mr Wilders could fall foul of the state's hate speech laws if he incites tensions.

Mr Wilders had been due to visit Australia last year but had to postpone the trip following delays in processing his visa.

He opposes the "Islamisation" of the Netherlands and has called for the banning of the Koran, which he equates with Adolf Hitler's autobiography Mein Kampf.

Mr Wilders was invited to Australia by a nationalist group called the Q Society.

A meeting is planned for Melbourne on February 19, and there are appearance dates in Sydney and Perth.

Islamic Friendship Association president Keysar Trad said he had been approached by Leftist groups about protests against the Right-wing politician.

Q Society spokesman Andrew Horwood said details of meetings would be released with only 48 hours' notice, for security reasons.

"We feel strongly that as a democracy we can't not talk about things because of the threat of violence," he said.

Mr Horwood said Islam was unlike any other religion, and his organisation was concerned that Australia, like Europe, was changing as Muslim numbers grew.

Victorian Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship Minister Nick Kotsiras said Mr Wilders had the right to free speech, subject to the state's racial and religious vilification laws.

Herald Sun, 25 January 2013

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The festival that has become a staple in the tight-knit Orange County Arabic community for nearly 20 years has become a place of protest outside the event gates but inside, the party goes on.

By day, families play games, take their children on rides and peruse aisles of Middle Eastern cuisine and hookah tents at the Arab American Day Festival in Garden Grove. When night falls, music will overwhelm the venue on Main Street, a dance party will ensue and, according to some, the protests will begin.

Friday night drew heated controversy outside the gates between festival-goers and a group carrying signs disparaging the prophet Muhammad and passing out Bibles. Police said no arrests were made Friday and about 30 officers were at the festival on Saturday, the night expected to draw the largest crowds.

Festival organizer and founder Ahmad Alam said the protesters stood with a microphone and signs yelling anti-Islamic sayings. One of the signs reportedly used a phrase from the anti-Muslim movie that has sparked riots at U.S. embassies across the world and resulted in the death of a U.S. ambassador and several others.

But Alam said this is nothing he hasn't seen before. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Alam said the festival has seen its share of anti-Muslim groups outside their festival. "Our people are used to this," he said.

Orange County Register, 29 September 2012

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Socialist youth movement Blitz demonstrated against SIAN's demonstration in front of the parliament building on Saturday. On one occasion, two groups attempted to confront, but police stopped them quickly and arrested four people.

While 20 people turned up to support SIAN, almost 40 attended to the anti-SIAN demonstration.

SIAN had announced on its website before the demonstration that the Muslim prophet would be both "insulted" and "offended" at the ceremony.

The Nordic Page, 29 September 2012

SIAN had boasted that their demonstration, which was called in protest against Muslim opposition to so-called freedom of expression, would establish a "sharia-free zone". SIAN leader Arne Tumyr was quoted as stating that his organisation had forked out 5,000 kroner for an advert in the national daily Dagladet and that lots of people would be coming.

See also NRK, 29 September 2012

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A man has admitted threatening to kill his neighbours and forcing his way into their Thornhill Lees home. Daniel Smith, 39, was told that he should expect a long jail term when he returns to Leeds Crown Court for sentencing on June 22.

On Wednesday, Smith admitted 10 offences linked to events in Victoria Road on August 26, 2011. They included burglary, common assault, affray, four counts of making threats to kill and two counts of possessing a knife.

He denied aggravated burglary and possessing a screwdriver as an offensive weapon – charges which he had faced at an earlier trial where a jury could not reach a verdict.

A re-trial had been ordered and was expected to start at the court on Wednesday morning. But when Smith entered guilty pleas to the majority of charges, the prosecution decided a second trial was not in the public interest.

Prosecutor Christopher Tehrani said the complainants in the case had been spoken to and agreed with that course of action.

Judge Guy Kearl QC told Smith: "This is going to result in a long sentence of imprisonment. I do, however, think it will be helpful to me if I can have the assistance and benefit of a pre-sentence report upon you." He said it would be in Smith’s interest to co-operate with the probation service while they prepared the report.

Smith was remanded into custody until his sentencing.

Dewsbury Reporter, 27 May 2012

See also Hope Not Hate, 28 May 2012

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A Reformist priest from a tiny Bernese village is under investigation by church leaders after it emerged that she helped run a fanatical anti-Islamic website.

The Council of Reformist Churches for Bern, Solothurn and Jura has criticised the priest, and declared her activities on website 'Politically Incorrect' to be "incompatible" with her position as a priest due to the "Islam-baiting" that takes place on it, newspaper Tages Anzeiger reported.

The priest has been involved for a long time with the Politically Incorrect forum, a website frequented mainly by Germans, and has been operating clandestinely, the newspaper reported.

It has been alleged that the priest has been funding the website herself, the Tages Anzeiger reported. The prosecutor also believes it possible that she has been contributing some of the racist content, albeit under pseudonyms.

The Council had already warned the priest previously for her participation at extreme-right Islamophobic events in Germany. Having reviewed the content of the website, the Council described the articles posted there as "inflammatory and derogatory".

The priest is now accused of breaching anti-racism laws and of failing to prevent criminal acts. Despite the accusations, she has still been permitted by her immediate superiors to continue to preach in the village.

The Local, 25 May 2012

The pastor's name is Christine Dietrich and far from "operating clandestinely" she has been publicly involved with Politically Incorrect for a number of years. Indeed, in 2009 she featured in a TV interview on Russia Today as a spokesperson for PI.

In January this year PI reported that Dietrich had severed her links with the the hate site after mounting criticism of her role had forced her church to take action. An investigation into Dietrich by the church synod had reportedly found "no proof of islamophobic statements or writings by the pastor". Yet Dietrich's colleague Michael Stürzenberger openly admitted that she had written for PI for years "against the misogyny of Islam, its affinity for violence, its legitimization of murder as well as its totalitarian claim to power".

Perhaps the reference in The Local's report to Dietrich "operating clandestinely" refers to her continuing involvement with PI since January.

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