Florida: Indian-American mistaken for Arab in arson attack

"Mr. Lloyd made the assumption that the store owners were Arabic when, in fact, they are of Indian descent."

In yet another instance of purported hate crime, a 64-year-old man in Florida attempted to set fire to a store owned by an Indian-American thinking they were Muslims, news outlet CNN reported. The accused, Richard Lloyd reportedly told the deputies that he wanted to “run the Arabs out of our country.” St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara told CNN that Lloyd assumed the owners were Arab and what they were doing in the middle-east angered him. “It’s unfortunate that Mr. Lloyd made the assumption that the store owners were Arabic when, in fact, they are of Indian descent,” Mascara is quoted as saying by CNN.

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Lloyd pushed a dumpster in front of the store and set it on fire. However, the store remained unharmed as the fire was put out immediately. No injuries were reported.

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Mascara also said that the man’s mental health will be evaluated and it will be then ascertained whether the case merits hate crime charges. Lloyd had reportedly visited the store a few days earlier and asked for orange juice; however it was not available. According to CNN, Lloyd told deputies he “was doing his part for America” and that is why he tried to burn the departmental store.

Earlier in February, an Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla was shot dead after an American man thought he was from Iran. In March, a Sikh was shot at while being told “go back to your own country”. The man, however, survived.

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