Rewards offered in Florida mosque fire

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) - Rewards totaling $10,000 have been issued for information leading to the arrest of the arsonist who set fire to the Florida mosque that was occasionally attended by Orlando nightclub gunman Omar Mateen.

St. Lucie County sheriff's spokesman Maj. David Thompson said Tuesday that an arson investigation group has pledged $5,000. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has also pledged $5,000.

The fire at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce was set late Sunday night by a man on a motorcycle.

Assistant Imam Hamaad Rahman of the Center said the mosque's approximately 100 members are "saddened and scared" by the fire.

It burned for over five hours before it was extinguished early Monday. The fire was started on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the start of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.

Rahman said the community is bigger and stronger than a building and the attack will bring it together. He said the mosque has received more threats since June's nightclub shooting than it did in its previous 20 years of existence.