Talking Points Memo-DOJ; Tenn. Mosque Arson Was A Hate Crime

photo credit: YouTube/ABC News/Talking Points Memo.com

(Story reported by Rachel Sladja for Talking Points Memo.com)

A veteran of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division says he'd be surprised if the fire at the site of a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn. isn't investigated as a hate crime.

"I think it's pretty clear that there's a hate crime investigation underway," William Yeomans, who served in the division for 24 years and was briefly the acting director, told TPMmuckraker today.

Federal authorities, including the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Bureau and the FBI, have said that there's "no indication" that the fire -- set early Saturday morning to pieces of construction equipment at the site of the proposed Islamic center and mosque -- is a hate crime.

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