Disturbing video shows two masked firebugs torching a UK mosque with two people inside in an “appalling and reckless” hate crime.
The two thugs were seen on surveillance cameras trying to first break into the mosque in the English coastal town of Peacehaven at about 9:45 p.m. on Saturday.
They quickly doused the front door with gasoline and then set it alight — sparking a huge fire and destroying a car outside.
Surveillance footage shows masked men setting fire to a mosque in Peacehaven, England on Saturday. PC&M Peacehaven via Storyful
The men doused the front entrance in gasoline and set the building ablaze. PC&M Peacehaven via Storyful“This was an appalling and reckless attack,” Sussex Police Assistant Chief Constable Paul Court said, confirming it was being treated as a hate crime.
“Let me be clear: There is no place for hate and division in our communities. Those who are responsible for causing these offences will be dealt with robustly by the police and put before the courts.”
His boss, Police Commissioner Katy Bourne, called it “the height of hateful criminality.”
A 46-year-old man was arrested Monday on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, cops said, while continuing to appeal for witnesses as well as tips on the perps.
One person was arrested in connection with the arson. PC&M Peacehaven via StoryfulThe mosque’s chairman and a worshipper, who are both in their 60s, had been inside having tea at the time, CNN reported.
“They could have easily died,” a mosque manager said, adding: “These people came with full intent to cause maximum damage.”
“The chairman was shaking the whole time, and a neighbor came out onto the street crying,” he continued.
“Everyone is scared. If someone was willing to do this, we don’t know what’s next.”
A burned car seen outside of the mosque after the fire was extinguished. PC&M Peacehaven via Storyful
Locals inspecting the damage the morning after the fire in Peacehaven on Oct. 5, 2025. Jamie Lashmar/PA via APBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood immediately condemned the arson attack as a hate crime — just days after two men were killed when a knife-wielding terrorist attacked their synagogue in Manchester on the holiest day of the Jewish year.
Starmer’s spokesperson said “attacks against Britain’s Muslims are attacks against all Britons and this country itself” — adding that “anti-Muslim hatred has no place in Britain.”
Mahmood, meanwhile, said the attack was “deeply concerning” and urged people to “stand united.”
