By: Ted Thornhill
Source: Daily Mail
A homeless man has been arrested and charged with arson for a fire that destroyed a building at an Islamic institute in Houston, fire officials said on Monday.
The blaze early on Friday at the Quba Islamic Institute destroyed one of three buildings there, but no one was injured.
Fire officials said Darryl Ferguson, 55, confessed to causing the blaze – but he claimed it was an accident as he was led away by officials, according to a Houston news website.
Ferguson had been staying in the area and was considered a suspect by investigators.
They were looking for him on Monday when he apparently approached them on his bicycle.
Ruben Hernandez, from the Houston Fire Department’s arson squad, told Chron.com: ‘We asked if he wanted to talk to us in our office. Mr Ferguson made an admission.’
Ferguson has been linked to a number of crimes in the past, including credit card abuse, trespassing, possession of a controlled substance, prostitution and assault.
Authorities said that someone used an accelerant in the 5am Friday blaze, according to one of the imam’s sons, 25-year-old Ahsan Zahid.
Mr Zahid said that an investigator told him that the incident was a suspected arson, and that the fire was not an accident.
On Friday, the Houston Fire Department (HFD) said in a release it was investigating and could not yet name the cause of the fire.
Earlier Twitter users had directed their fury at a Texas man who allegedly said on social media that the center should burn down.
According to The Daily Kos Herron wrote on social media ‘let it burn… block the fire hydrant’.
The Daily Kos reported that Herron is a Crystal Beach Volunteer Fire Department (CBVFD) volunteer.
However, CBVFD said in a statement sent to Daily Mail Online early Monday that Herron is not affiliated with the organization whatsoever.
The statement said ‘There have been recent post on social media from someone stating they are a member of our Fire Department and have posted hate messages against the Islamic Community.
‘Please know that this person, Dustin Herron, is not a member of the Crystal Beach Volunteer Fire Dept; nor has he ever been a member of our fire department.
‘We are in the process of trying to track down Mr. Herron regarding the comments he made. We have also notified the Galveston County Sheriff Dept. regarding Mr Herron falsely stating he is a fire fighter within our organization.
‘We have received many e-mails regarding his recent social media post and comments.
‘Please know that our Volunteer’s give 100% effort 100% of the time.’
One tweet against Herron asked him ‘why the hate? Serve and protect? Or just hate?’
Another said ‘you are an embarrassment to all public safety officials and volunteers, what you posted about the Islamic center is shameful!’
Both Herron and a spokesman for the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) did not immediately return requests for comment early Monday from Daily Mail Online.
The FBI said Saturday that they are monitoring the situation and could take a more active role in the investigation, according to Reuters.
The Council on American Islamic Relations’s Texas office has called for possible hate crime motivations to be looked at in the investigation.
Federal agencies are expected to become more involved if that is the case.
No injuries were reported in the fire, which largely took place in a storage building and is thought to have caused $100,000 in damage.
The contents of the building, which housed the institute’s computers, lights and equipment for a renovation, were completely destroyed.
