07-19-2008, 09:08 PM
http://www.pluralism.org/news/article.php?id=3694
Feb 25, 2003
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
On February 25, 2003 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "security video cameras will be installed outside the Hindu Temple of St. Louis as the result of a firebombing that caused only superficial damage over the weekend, the head of its board said Monday... A bottle containing a flammable liquid was set afire and thrown against the front door of the temple, at 725 Weidman Road in west St. Louis County, between 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday, police said. The fire quickly burned itself out, charring a 3 1/2- to 4-foot section of the door... Krishna Reddy, president of the board, doesn't know what to make of the incident but said it certainly created fear that someone may be targeting the Hindu community."
Feb 25, 2003
KSDK TV
On February 25, 2003 KSDK TV reported that "Members of the Hindu Temple of St. Louis are on edge today, after someone threw a firebomb at the temples door, causing fire damage to the ornate structure... Temple Members say the damage was discovered Sunday morning before services. Pieces of glass from a broken bottle were lying in front of the ten-foot doors that lead into the Temple built in 1990, and decorated by Hindu Priests from India."
Mar 1, 2003
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
On March 1, 2003 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch printed a letter from Dr. Warren E. Crews, President of the Board Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St. Louis. In it he stated, "I would like to extend the sympathy of the Interfaith Partnership, a coalition of 28 faith groups in the St. Louis area, to members of the Hindu Temple of St. Louis. The vandalizing of the front doors of their temple is an outrage. Such acts of religious hatred must not be tolerated. They are a threat to all of us. We have stood up to threats against our Jewish and Muslim neighbors. Now we must do so for the Hindu community."
Mar 4, 2003
The Associated Press
On March 4, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "security is being stepped up for a Hindu temple that was firebombed twice in a week and federal agents are trying to determine if the attacks were youthful mischief or hate-fueled religious bigotry... No one was injured by the attacks that slightly damaged the Hindu Temple of St. Louis on Feb. 23 and last Saturday. The temple's massive metal doors blocked the first firebomb, and flame-retardant carpeting limited damage from the second, which was thrown through a window... There was no immediate indication if the Feb. 23 attack was related to one that same day at the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Kansas City in Shawnee, Kan., about 250 miles away, where someone broke the glass front door and caused $700 in damage."
Mar 24, 2003
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
On March 24, 2003 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "[Thomas] Laird is the father of Paul Laird, one of two teens charged hours before with felonies in attacks on the temple that had left the faithful and the police trying to figure out what anybody had against Hindus... It was nothing personal, Laird told [Jiwan Singla, a member of the temple], blaming the effects of alcohol - not religious hatred - for driving his son and friend Nathaniel Conner. The elder Laird apologized, and left the building sobbing... 'There is no reason for him (Paul Laird) to have any animosity toward the Hindu temple,' Thomas Laird said in an interview earlier Monday."
Feb 25, 2003
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
On February 25, 2003 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "security video cameras will be installed outside the Hindu Temple of St. Louis as the result of a firebombing that caused only superficial damage over the weekend, the head of its board said Monday... A bottle containing a flammable liquid was set afire and thrown against the front door of the temple, at 725 Weidman Road in west St. Louis County, between 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday, police said. The fire quickly burned itself out, charring a 3 1/2- to 4-foot section of the door... Krishna Reddy, president of the board, doesn't know what to make of the incident but said it certainly created fear that someone may be targeting the Hindu community."
Feb 25, 2003
KSDK TV
On February 25, 2003 KSDK TV reported that "Members of the Hindu Temple of St. Louis are on edge today, after someone threw a firebomb at the temples door, causing fire damage to the ornate structure... Temple Members say the damage was discovered Sunday morning before services. Pieces of glass from a broken bottle were lying in front of the ten-foot doors that lead into the Temple built in 1990, and decorated by Hindu Priests from India."
Mar 1, 2003
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
On March 1, 2003 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch printed a letter from Dr. Warren E. Crews, President of the Board Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St. Louis. In it he stated, "I would like to extend the sympathy of the Interfaith Partnership, a coalition of 28 faith groups in the St. Louis area, to members of the Hindu Temple of St. Louis. The vandalizing of the front doors of their temple is an outrage. Such acts of religious hatred must not be tolerated. They are a threat to all of us. We have stood up to threats against our Jewish and Muslim neighbors. Now we must do so for the Hindu community."
Mar 4, 2003
The Associated Press
On March 4, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "security is being stepped up for a Hindu temple that was firebombed twice in a week and federal agents are trying to determine if the attacks were youthful mischief or hate-fueled religious bigotry... No one was injured by the attacks that slightly damaged the Hindu Temple of St. Louis on Feb. 23 and last Saturday. The temple's massive metal doors blocked the first firebomb, and flame-retardant carpeting limited damage from the second, which was thrown through a window... There was no immediate indication if the Feb. 23 attack was related to one that same day at the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Kansas City in Shawnee, Kan., about 250 miles away, where someone broke the glass front door and caused $700 in damage."
Mar 24, 2003
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
On March 24, 2003 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "[Thomas] Laird is the father of Paul Laird, one of two teens charged hours before with felonies in attacks on the temple that had left the faithful and the police trying to figure out what anybody had against Hindus... It was nothing personal, Laird told [Jiwan Singla, a member of the temple], blaming the effects of alcohol - not religious hatred - for driving his son and friend Nathaniel Conner. The elder Laird apologized, and left the building sobbing... 'There is no reason for him (Paul Laird) to have any animosity toward the Hindu temple,' Thomas Laird said in an interview earlier Monday."