Russell Simmons - Simmons Condemns Oregon Mosque Fire

The Def Jam co-founder was horrified after police in the U.S. state confirmed that the Salman Alfarisi Islamic Center in Corvallis was specifically targeted in the early hours of Sunday morning (28Nov10). One room of the facility was gutted during the blaze.

The arson attack is thought to stem from the arrest on Friday (26Nov10) of worshipper Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, who was held by police after allegedly plotting to detonate a bomb at a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in nearby Portland.

Simmons admits he was saddened by the circumstances surrounding the fire, and he's taken to his Twitter.com page to condemn the mystery arsonist.

In a post on the microblogging site, he writes, "The actions of one does not justify condemning all. Burning of the mosque in Oregon is wrong. Islamophobia is ugly."