On Friday, March 10th, 64-year-old Richard Lloyd attempted to burn down, Met Mart convenience store, located in Port St Lucie, Florida, because he believed the business was owned by Muslims, he later told police that he attempted to set alight the building as he was “‘run the Arabs out of our country,'”.
At approximately 7:40 am officers of the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office were called to the Met Mart store at 100 Prima Vista Boulevard after they received a report of a white male acting suspiciously. When they arrived they spotted that a nearby dumpster had been rolled out in front of the store and the contents of the dumpster had been set alight.
The police spotted Richard at the scene near the dumpster, Richard turned around, put his hands behind his head and told the officers, "take me away".
St. Lucie County Fire District managed to extinguish the fire, the front of the store suffered smoke damage from the attempted arson.
Sheriff Ken J. Mascara reported that Richard, "told deputies that he pushed the dumpster to the front of the building, tore down signs posted to the outside of the store and lit the contents of the dumpster on fire to ‘run the Arabs out of our country,’” he believed he was “doing his part for America”.
Richard's told the police he believed the store owners were Muslims, and it made him mad “due to what they are doing in the Middle East.” It was later reported by sheriff Mascara that the store owners were of Indian descent.
Richard was in the same store a few days prior and got mad at the store workers after he found that they did not stock his favorite type of orange juice.
Sheriff Mascara stated, “We will not tolerate violence based on age, race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, homeless status, mental or physical disability.”
Richard Lloyd was arrested and received a felony arson charge, he was taken to St. Lucie County Jail, he is being held on a $30,000 bond.