WASHINGTON: Seattle Gay Nightclub Arson Suspect Allegedly Told Friend "Homosexuals Should Be Exterminated"
According to newly released court documents, Seattle gay nightclub arson suspect Musab Masmari told a friend that "homosexuals should be exterminated." This is the first evidence yet disclosed as to Masmari's possible motivation for setting the fire on New Year's Eve as over 750 patrons celebrated.
According to investigative documents filed in King County Superior Court, the 30-year old Masmari told a friend “that homosexuals should be exterminated.” That friend, a member of the local Muslim community, went straight to the FBI because he believed Masmari may have also been planning a terrorist attack. That friend became a confidential informant. According to the documents, Masmari first met the informant at Fatima’s Cafe near the Masjid at Taqwa Mosque on Seattle’s East Union Street, shortly after the fire at Neighbours. The informant contacted the FBI soon after meeting Masmari because he was "concerned" that Masmari "may be planning some terrorist activity" because he spoke of "something he's planning." The informant told investigators that Masmari told him "he had obtained a rifle." The unidentified informant also said that, in the numerous conversations after their first meeting, Masmari often expressed a "distaste for homosexual people,” and that Masmari "opined that homosexuals should be exterminated."Masmari is being held on $1M bond on a single count of arson after being apprehended while trying to flee the country on a one-way ticket to Turkey. Last week the editor of Seattle Gay News demanded that charges be amended to include 750 counts of attempted murder. This latest disclosure may lead to federal hate crime charges.
Labels: arson, attempted murder, gay bars, hate crimes, Islam, Musab Masmari, nightlife, religion, Seattle, Washington state