Utah Motel Owner Who Cried "Hate Crime" Now Charged with Arson

July 29, 2002

Source: Los Angeles Times

On July 29, 2002 the Los Angeles Times reported that in Heber City, Utah "someone deliberately set fire to the motel owned by" Mazhar Tabesh, a Muslim immigrant from Pakistan. His "family escaped without injury but... the fire destroyed nine rooms in the motel, including those directly above where Tabesh and his wife live. Damage was estimated at $100,000...�Tabesh, a U.S. citizen, said he has received telephone threats for about a year from an anonymous person who warned, 'You don't belong here, get out'... Authorities are investigating the blaze as a possible hate crime."