Ind. man: I burned Ohio mosque to avenge soldiers

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

A former Marine from Indiana admitted Wednesday that he broke into a mosque in Ohio and set fire to a prayer rug because he wanted revenge for the killings of American troops overseas.

Randy Linn pleaded guilty to hate crime charges, saying he'd become enraged after seeing images of wounded soldiers in the news.

... When asked by a federal judge whether he thought all Muslims are terrorists, he answered: "I'd say most of them are."

A deal between prosecutors and Linn, 52, calls for him to be sentenced to 20 years next April. He pleaded guilty to intentionally damaging and destroying religious property and two gun-related charges.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/12/19/5065674/man-says-he-burned-ohio-mosque.html

[kestrel91316]

1. I'd say 20 years for this fucker is about right.

What an ass.

[Aristus]

4. 20 years with a Muslim cellmate.

Bon Voyage, asshole!...

[cstanleytech]

6. Hopefully its 20 years without parole. nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

8. An ugly little hate crime, but 20 years is ridiculously harsh.

The guy burned a rug. Restitution for damages and a year or two to think about it.

We have some very punitive attitudes in this country, which could have something to do with the reason we're the world's number one jailer. The responses in this subthread are a case in point.

[kestrel91316]

11. You give this guy a slap on the wrist and he'll be back with a Bushmaster in no time at all.

I am DONE with RW terrorism in this country.

[Comrade Grumpy]

15. A year or two in jail is hardly "a slap on the wrist"...

...except to Americans, who routinely embrace harsh sentences that make sane people scratch their heads.

I continue to maintain this is a good example of excessively punitive sentencing. There are too many others to go into.

[struggle4progress]

17. I agree, if he only burned a rug

[du_grad]

18. He was pretty drunk when he did this - it was more than a rug that was damaged

"Linn said he had drunk 45 beers over a period of six or seven hours before he “jumped up” and drove to Ohio. He told the judge that he “definitely did not think about it.”

Glad you people are so smug. They had a school in the building and all of their educational materials were ruined. The Toledo Blade has covered this story extensively.

http://www.toledoblade.com/Police-Fire/2012/12/19/Man-pleads-guilty-to-mosque-arson-fire.html

http://www.toledoblade.com/Religion/2012/11/13/Gift-of-books-helps-school-turn-page-on-arson-losses.html

"The Islamic School lost more than 1,000 books when the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, the Perrysburg mosque where the school was located, was set fire Sept. 30 and the classrooms and contents were damaged by smoke and water."

I personally am glad they threw the book at him. What if there had been people in there and they didn't happen to find the fire and they were trapped??

[MrSlayer]

20. 45 beers in 6 hours?

Who is this fucking guy? Andre the Giant?

That's nearly eight beers an hour for six hours straight. Unless he was doing some coke with it, I'm not buying. I can do some drinking and without help I can't do more than 15 or so before it's pass out time. And that's over a similar time period.


And forget about driving, most people wouldn't be able to walk.

[du_grad]

28. I had a friend in college

He could drink a case of beer in a weekend. He also had major alcohol issues.

I used to work in a lab that did blood alcohol levels for their detox unit. You would be amazed at how high blood alcohols can get in hardened alcoholics. I've seen levels approaching .50, usually lethal for non-drinkers.

I would suspect his 45-beer binge had a longer time frame - possibly a couple of days, while he was working himself up into his beery frenzy.

The Indiana/Ohio turnpike is a straight road. I suppose all he would have to do to drive here is aim his car .

[defacto7]

21. I think 45 beers in 6 or 7 hours

would require a port-a-urinal or a catheter with a very large bag.

[aquart]

25. Or a fireman was killed putting the fire out?

20 years was light for a pure hate crime.

And I am completely unimpressed by the "Christ, was I drunk last night" defense.

[ck4829]

22. He set fire to a mosque too

Thankfully it only lightly damaged the mosque, but I can picture this drunk idiot celebrating the mosque burning down if it did more damage and not noticing the fire spreading to other buildings, especially buildings that would have been occupied at the time.

[aquart]

24. No.

[Sunlei]

27. when they use the hate law +/or the terror laws an arson becomes 20 years in Federal prison

[Coyote_Tan]

26. 20 years for property damage is too much...

People have been to jail for less time for taking a human life.

[slackmaster]

2. That rug really tied the room together, man

[brett_jv]

19. And this guy pee'd on it ...

Dude?

[frylock]

3. have a nice trip

[CurtEastPoint]

5. disgusting

[harmonicon]

7. In all of his 52 years, he never learned about irony? (nt)

[SwankyXomb]

10. I know they say there are no former Marines,

but when you betray the ideals of the Marine Corps as much as this man did, it fits.

[valerief]

12. Teh sToopiD. It HURTZ!!!! nt

[muntrv]

13. Please give him a Muslim cellmate!

[davidpdx]

14. I agree 20 years is not enough

I have been reading quite a bit about the Muslim faith for my law class and found a book written by a woman who immigrated to the US as a child growing up in California. The people who complain about Shari'a law and mosques really have no idea what the hell they are talking about. It is pure ignorance.

[olddad56]

16. so our government illegally invades Iraq and Afghanistan,kills their people, destroy their..

countries and this guy wants revenge. If he wants revenge maybe he should take it out on the people who sent our servicemen overseas to kill people.

[Divine Discontent]

23. yeah, but, you know what kind of "news" he relies upon... n/t

[brooklynite]

29. ...after drinking 16 beers.