EVERETT – White crosses and an anti-Arab message were found inside a Pakistani-owned market gutted by arson Friday, police said.
The spray-painted message, “F U Arab,” has Everett police and federal agents investigating whether the fire at Continental Spices market was a hate crime.
Authorities have not determined a motive for the arson.
“We don’t leap to a conclusion because of one clue,” Everett Police Sgt. Boyd Bryant said.
Meanwhile, a cross was burned at the home of a Middle Eastern family in Edmonds, police there reported Friday.
The Edmonds investigation so far indicates that the malicious act may have been done by a former longtime friend of the homeowner’s teenage son, Edmonds police said.
Apparently, the former friend “had a parting of the ways” with the teenage son, Edmonds police Sgt. Jeffrey Jones said Friday.
The cross was made of wood and about 5 feet tall. It was set on fire in the front yard of the home in the 16000 Block of 75 Place W., and the flames charred some shrubs but didn’t do any extensive damage to the house.
In the Everett fire, firefighters could smell gasoline when they arrived around 4:15 a.m. Friday to put out the fire, Bryant said. Inside the store they found a 2-gallon gasoline can filled with liquid.
The fire caused an estimated $90,000 damage to the business at 315 E. Casino Road. The store sold groceries and spices from the Middle East. No one was hurt.
“It’s really shocking,” said Abid Sheikh, son of one of the owners. “This community is nice. This is the first time I have experienced anything like this.”
Store manager Mirza Akram was working to buy the market, and had about $10,000 left to pay before the business was his.
He fears the fire was set in retaliation for attacks on Americans in the Middle East.
Last month, two white men came to the store and became upset when they learned Akram was born in Pakistan, he said. The two asked him about a recent beheading of an American in the Middle East and left the store angry.
Akram did not report the incident to police because the men left the store without causing any damage, he said.
Eyes rimmed with tears, he watched as firefighters piled charred groceries outside the business.
“We want to know how this happened,” he said.
The current owners have insurance, but said they had just renewed it the day before.
The business on the other side of the market, the Ping hair salon, also suffered some water damage.
The fire is not believed connected to a string of small arsons in north Everett, Bryant said. The blaze is also being investigated by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The fire was reported by Ajendra Prasad, an employee at the 7-Eleven next door, which was not damaged by the fire.
Before the fire, Prasad was cleaning the parking lot the convenience store shares with Continental Spices and several other businesses at the small strip mall and said he noticed a man waiting by his car.
It was sometime after midnight, Prasad said, and the man claimed he was “just waiting for the owner to come get some meat.”
Prasad did not know if the man was connected to the fire, but neither Akram nor the owner’s son knew of a meat delivery expected early Friday.
Continental Spices is part of the Za Trading company, a family-owned business that has another Continental Spices store in Seattle. The company, founded in 1992, claims to be the first Pakistani corporation started in the state.
In addition to selling Indian, Pakistani and Middle Eastern groceries, the company markets halal meat, the Islamic equivalent of kosher.
The company is the distributor for 90 percent of the halal meat sold in Washington and Oregon, chief executive Ahmed Sheikh said. It’s also well-known throughout the United States.
He and his family came to the United States for economic and education opportunities, said Sheikh of Mountlake Terrace.
“We consider this our home country,” said his nephew, Abid Sheikh of Everett. “We don’t have any bad feelings about Americans because we are American, too.”
Continental Spices will be closed indefinitely, and the family is worried that their other businesses also will become targets.
Meanwhile, Hassan al-Emeri said he’s never had any threats against his Colby Halal Market in downtown Everett. But, he said, every few months, a passerby shouts profanities and what appear to be anti-Iraqi or anti-Muslim comments such as, “What the f— are you doing here?”
Also, Jeff Siddiqui of Lynnwood said he has received at least 100 anti-Muslim e-mails. He gives frequent talks to non-Muslim groups about the true teachings of Islam, and that’s made him one of Snohomish County’s most prominent Muslims.
Siddiqui said that, if the fire was a hate crime, it happened in part because of anti-Muslim rhetoric from some conservative religious, political and military leaders – and the failure of politicians of all stripes to forcefully denounce it.
The owners of Continental Spices have not decided yet whether they’ll rebuild.
In the Edmonds incident, police arrived at the home about 9 a.m. Friday. The cross was placed at the house sometime between 11:45 a.m. and 11 p.m. on Thursday. The homeowners were not home at the time and no one reported the incident until the family returned home Friday.
The victim’s son, who was with his parents on vacation and out of town, received a call from a friend who told him about a cross burning in his front yard. The homeowner contacted a family friend to check the house on Thursday night. She located the cross, which was no longer burning, and returned to her home without calling police.
The incident is still under investigation. If anyone has any information that can help apprehend those responsible for this crime, they can call Edmonds detectives at 425-771-0200 during normal business hours Monday through Thursday.
Herald reporters Diana Hefley and David Olson contributed to this article.
Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@ heraldnet.com.
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