Somali Migrant Torched Churches as Revenge for a Qur’an Being Burned
A Somali migrant has admitted to setting two
Norwegian churches on fire earlier this year, claiming that he committed
the arson attacks as revenge for a burning of a copy of the Qur’an late
last year.
The man, in his twenties, pled guilty to the two fires in Dombås and at Sel, with the first fire spreading to the spire of the church and doing serious damage.
The man said the acts were revenge for the burning of a Qur’an in the city of Kristiansand by the group Stop Islamisation of Norway (SIAN) which ended in violence after counter-protestors jumped barricades and fought with members of the group.
According to a report from broadcaster NRK, the Somali migrant was identified based on DNA evidence that was gathered at the scenes of both arson attacks.
Norway: Anti-Islam Group Slammed After Violence at Quran Burning Event https://t.co/xAHWTQZPNS— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 22, 2019
He claimed to have seen he Qur’an burning on television. “I started checking, and found that the person who had set fire to the Koran had not been punished. Then I got angry. I’m a Muslim. I don’t like someone trampling on my religion because I respect the religion of others,” he said — despite the fact he attempted to burn down two churches.
Norway Looks to Strip 1,600 Migrants of Refugee Status, Send Them Back to Somalia https://t.co/51OOWrbtw1— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 5, 2018
The 39-year-old had been a volunteer at the cathedral before deciding to set it on fire. Cathedral staff initially defended him, saying they could not believe he would have had anything to do with the attack, but he eventually confessed his responsibility to law enforcement.
Read More Here: Breitbart