In yet another case of hate crime, a 64-year-old Florida man tried to set ablaze a convenience store on fire because he mistook its Indian-American owners for “Arabs.”
According to CNN, Richard Lloyd told the police that he wanted to “run the Arabs out of the country”, so he decided to put a dumpster in front of the door and light its contents on fire.
By the time the police arrived at the store, Llyod had put his hands behind his back and was shouting “take me away.”
The police also added that Lloyd insisted that “he was doing his part for America.”
Florida man tries to set fire at store he thinks is owned by Muslims.https://t.co/ntOulemJTQ
Said he “did it for America.”#WhiteISIS pic.twitter.com/k6F9n5PhsT— Imraan Siddiqi (@imraansiddiqi) March 11, 2017
Hindustan Times reports that Llyod assumed that the store owners were Muslims and decided to burn the place down. However, irrespective of the race, colour, ethnicity or religion, such violence is unacceptable, said the police.
Llyod has been charged with first-degree arson and booked into the St Lucie County jail.
Recently, a number of such hate crimes have been inflicted upon Indians living in US. On February 23, Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was shot dead at a Kansas City bar by a Navy veteran.
(Feature image source: Reuters)