Hashmi: I got a call from our Imam.

He said, “Our mosque is on fire.”

We were all there,
just watching it across the street.

Omar: I’ve been in Victoria for 22 years.

The majority judge me for the person I am.

There’s always been racism.

Yeah, they can rebuild the mosque,
but it’s not the same.

News Anchor: A man questioned today
regarding the Islamic center fire…

Woman: Marq Vincent Pérez is being described
as an anti-Muslim right wing extremist.

Woman: Independent Lens is made possible in part by
the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,

a private corporation funded by the American people.

Acton Family Giving.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The Wyncote Foundation.

The National Endowment for the Arts.

And by contributions from viewers like you.

Thank you.

The Independent Lens and Reel South co-presentation
of “A Town Called Victoria”

was made possible in part by…

The Ford Foundation.

The WNET groups Exploring Hate:
Antisemitism, Racism and Extremism initiative,

with principal support

from the Sylvia A. and Simon B. Poyta Programming Endowment
to Fight Anti-Semitism.

Firelight Media.

Independent Filmmaker Project and HBO,
through the New True Stories Grant.

Islamic Scholarship Fund.

Austin Film Society.

And others.

A complete list is available from PBS.

[Thunder rumbles and rain falls]

[Ambulance siren wails]

[Clicks of camera shutter]

Where do you want us, sir?

Just take your place anywhere.

Back here’s fine.

Anywhere back here.

Marq Vincent Pérez,
aided and abetted and helped by others,
intentionally defaced, damaged, and destroyed
the Victoria Islamic Center
with use of dangerous weapons,
explosives, and a firearm.

And this, ladies and gentlemen,
is a hate crime.

This indictment should send notice to violators
that such crimes will not be tolerated,
that they will be thoroughly investigated
and they will be aggressively prosecuted.

News Anchor: 25-year-old Marq Vincent Pérez
is charged with intentionally damaging
and defacing a house of worship.

The ATF and FBI stood together with multiple agencies
behind me here at the Federal building
to announce the indictment.

Craig: You’re innocent until proven guilty.

And so that person will face trial
and you follow where the evidence goes.

News Anchor: A search warrant uncovered two laptops
at Pérez’s home
that officials believe originally belonged
to the Victoria Islamic Center.

Abe: I want people to understand,
this wasn’t just about the loss of a building.

This is about the core security and safety of our,
our physical safety.

The fact that he is a Victorian is hurtful.

Di Carlo: He has no prior criminal record.

We always ask for the cooperation of the media
in covering the case fairly.

We don’t want any kind of a witch hunt.

We are very disappointed by the press conference,
by the United States Attorney’s Office.

We do feel it was an attempt
to influence the good people of Victoria, Texas
and to contaminate possible jurors.

Carter: I don’t remember the young man’s name.

We don’t talk about people
who do things to acquire notoriety.

No. If he’s guilty.

Allegedly!

Allegedly, he burned down the mosque.

Community Member: Most of the people
thought way different as to who did it.

And when it truly came out, people were, “Wow!”

I didn’t think it would be a Hispanic, you know.

I didn’t think we had that kind of blood in our body.

Sara: I can’t say I was surprised about anything.

I was ashamed,
because the person was close to my age
and people that I grew up with
remember going to school with him.

But it could have been anybody.

Josie: I don’t think that it reflects the mindset
of the Hispanic community.

Maybe somebody didn’t help him
when he needed the help.

We don’t know the reasons.

Do we want justice served? Absolutely.

Do we want a fair trial?

Even more so.

The government will need

to prove their case.

[indistinct speech over sound system]

Omar: I just never thought that somebody
who is classified as a minority like us,
would, you know, carry on such a, such an act.

But anyone can commit a hateful crime.

Abe: I just wanna sit back
and just try to understand him, of why.

Hashmi: We forgive him.

Our prayers are with his family, his parents in particular.

May God give them peace
if he is found guilty of this crime.

We haven’t taken any pictures down of our son.

We have ’em all up.

That’s our happy baby.

I always, uh, sang to him,

“You are my sunshine.”

And on Mother’s Day this year,
they had to play that at church.

So I just couldn’t make it,
cause that’s always our song,
and it still always will be
our song.

We didn’t raise him
with an ounce of racism
or xenophobe or homophobe,
any of those things.

His strongest quality is being a good dad.

Mary Grace: We couldn’t be any happier, prouder
to be grandparents to those two boys.

The day that Mason was born, we were sitting outside,
like dutiful little grandparents,
pacing the floor.

And then we go in and my husband says,
“Well, we need to pray over him.”

And so Vince runs to his backpack.

He thought enough to bring his Bible.

So we prayed life over Mason.

Mason was born on January 27th.

[Sirens blaring]

That night, the fire started at one in the morning.

We know for a fact that Vince was with his wife
at the hospital.

We know he was there.

He would’ve never left
his newborn son
to go do a heinous act like that.

Yes, we know there’s birds.

[Mumbles]

Yeah, all the birds.

Do you like birds?

Do you want me to buy you a bird?

I first met Vince
when I was 15 and he was 22, maybe.

When we started hanging out and going out together,
it was fun. Of course, I was a teenager.

[Laughs]

What made him attractive was his goofiness.

Maybe a week or two after Vince got picked up,

Matthew kept on screaming for daddy.

Even if he did get the minimum,
Matthew would be 20 and Mason would be 19.

These kids would be grown by then.

He would have missed everything.

I would sell everything I own.

I would move into a one-bedroom apartment
in a not good neighborhood
and take the city bus every day,
if that’s what it took
to get our son cleared of this.

Amen.

[Praying in Arabic]

Omar: Justice is gonna take its course.

All we can focus on
is the rehabilitation of our congregation.

You cannot put your building back together.

You just have to make the best out of it
and move forward.

Omar: People contributed to the GoFundMe campaign.

For it to be successful and raise $1.1 million
from 24,000 donors.

I mean, the outpouring of support
was just unbelievable.

But this is truly the American spirit.

Right after the fire,
my friend Rawley McCoy
was the very first person to call me.

He actually offered his architecture services,
free of charge.

That’s the kind of person that Rawley is.

This tragedy isn’t just their tragedy,
it’s all of our tragedies.

I met Omar several years ago when he was running for mayor.

We sometimes don’t see eye to eye on political matters,
but I love the guy.

Omar: Saturday, we are planning to have
a groundbreaking ceremony
for the construction of the new mosque.

Abe: We have this beautiful design.

This mosque is gonna be more open to the public
and it’s gonna be a symbol for unity.

We have something to look forward
for the future now.

Hashmi: The community has been asking,
you know, when is gonna finish, what’s gonna happen?

It adds up a little bit more pressure
on the board of our members.

Omar: God blessed us in more ways than we deserve,
but with that blessing,
we are called upon to also help those who need help.

Keith: We have to try to help each other
and if we could just do that together,

I think things will be a lot better.

Thank you, brother.

All right. Have a good day!

Yes, sir. I’ll catch you later.

All right. Take care.

Omar: If anybody has any doubt
about the ability of us to be kind to one another,
go to Christ’s Kitchen.

Humanity is exemplified in that soup kitchen.

People from all walks of life, every color.

It’s probably the only meal they will get.

Hey! As-Salaam-Alaikum! How are you?

Woman: Hey, how are you?

Trish: Morning y’all! We have a special treat today.

The Victoria Islamic Center
is serving our meal today
and has provided it.

I’d like to introduce you to Osama.

He’s the head of the Victoria
Islamic Center
and he’s gonna bless our meal today.

Osama: In the name of Allah, God,
the one who has gathered us today.

We ask him to bless our gathering.

Amen.

Abe: Thank you, Trish!

Woo!

How’s it going, sir?

All right.

¿Me da? Want one?

Yeah. Sí.

Thank you very much.

Filmmaker: What do y’all think
about the mosque serving here today?

Saturday is always church day,
so I’m used to it.

Filmmaker: You know, it was their church
that got burned down. Remember that?

Yeah, but think about the community
and what they said to ’em!

The community supported them really well.

What was happening though that all of this happened?

American people were being
blown up, shot at,
whatever by Muslims.

That’s what brought all of that on.

And the hatred brought it all on.

That’s one of the reasons
that Trump got elected.

He promised that he would do
something about it.

So the wall comes up.

We don’t want any Muslims
coming in.

What you and I will never know,
is how many cells
were here in Victoria.

Filmmaker: I’m sorry?

How many cells were here in Victoria?

We’ll never know that.

How many Muslim cells are here in Victoria?

Filmmaker: What do you mean by that?

Well, think about it.

[Rain falls]

[Thunder rumbles]

Veteran Speaker: Veterans of Foreign Wars, Texas.

Post number 4146.

[Bell rings]

Community Member: On Memorial Day, I remember,
and I honor the brave men and women
who gave their life for this great country.

And acknowledge those who died inside.

We were being hit really hard while I was in Afghanistan.

The sacrifices are real.

The pain is real.

The people are real.

We must continue to fight in this war
for freedom and for salvation.

[Second volley of shots]

[Third volley of shots]

Mario: He wanted to serve our country.

He saw that with great honor.

His uncle was in the Air Force.

My father-in-law was in the Army.

He picked out the Air Force.

He went into this ROTC program and he gave it all he had.

Have you ever seen a daddy peacock?

And he puts out his feathers
and he shows you the different colors
and it’s beautiful?

That’s how I feel,
when I see you out there.

Omar: I have a 33-year-old son,
actually soon to be 33.

His name is Sharif.

Decided that he wanted to enlist in the Army.

He did a tour in Mosul.

He lost some friends to IED.

That tragedy kind of, uh, impacted him quite a bit.

Okay, so there is a function called Warriors Weekend,
and I felt obligated to sponsor a flag, in his honor.

The flag is displayed in the Field of Honor
next to Parkway Baptist Church.

This is, uh, very cherished, uh, flag to me.

Schneider: We’ve been working three or four years now
to bring flag retirement to the ceremonies.

It’s important that boys understand
that that flag is not a piece of cloth.

If we don’t teach them, then boys will be boys.

And when they grow up,
they’ll never know to be anything more than that.

We’ve got to teach them to be men.

When the flag is no longer a fitting emblem,
then it needs to be retired,
preferably by burning and completely consumed.

We’ll have veterans bring the flags forward,
flanked by our young men,
and we’ll get to bring the veteran community
and our boy scout community together,
for the rest of our community.

Boy Scout: Color guard, halt.

Man: Salute!

Boy Scout: Color guard, prepare to retrieve the colors.

My white stripes signify God’s truths,
upon which this nation is established.

Let us retire the white stripes.

Mario: He gave it all he had,
but we got a phone call.

He had some issues with his asthma.

“He told me, come and pick me up.

“They’re discharging us.”

His soul was crushed
when he wasn’t able to achieve
this particular dream he was chasing.

But God had a plan.

One day I said,

“No more sackcloth and ashes.

“You want to go to school

or you want to go to work?”

He said, “Dad, I’ll go to work.”

“And where do you want to go to work at?”

He said, “With you.”

I’m an electrician.

And since he was 10, maybe 12,
he would help do side jobs electrically,
because a dad is a son’s first hero.

Omar: Sharif did go through a cycle
of trying to prove his masculinity.

I have faced lots of challenges raising my son.

I first came to the States in ’83.

Two years later, I was married to my wife at the time.

And nine months later I had Sharif.

We were self-employed and there were some struggles
with my first marriage.

And I wasn’t necessarily able to spend,
um, uh, quality time with my son.

At the same time,
my mind was somewhat occupied
with my parents overseas in Lebanon
with the Civil War going on.

Muslims and Christians
opened another round of war on each other.

News Anchor: That careful balance in government
between the country’s religious factions
has collapsed.

Omar: My uncle and my cousin
get killed in a car bomb.

My son is, uh, currently I believe in Houston.

The last I know.

He is trying to figure out his life.

You know, oftentimes we as parents
are put in a position that we never asked for,
just simply because we are parents.

There are decisions that my son had made
that didn’t necessarily, you know, make me proud.

Vincent’s parents…

I truly, truly feel for them.

Mario: If it blessed them for us to go
actually do electrical work for ’em,
why not?

That did cross my mind,
to go help these people,
because these people got robbed!

[Indistinct conversations]

Rawley: We’ll show you the process
that got us to this point.

And this point is
when the real work begins.

Abe: Is there anything else that’s not included here?

Not really. Just your, your…

Abe: Sound system is included here.

Mosque Member: It’s not. So it’s not included.

Abe: It’s not in these figures?

Mosque Member: No. The floor.

The floor is not included.

It’s separate from this total.

What is it?

Mosque Member: The floor.

Architect: The marble, just the material.

Abe: Landscaping and sprinkler system?

Landscaping, too, is not included.

Abe: So the numbers were given,
they don’t include landscaping or they do?

Mosque Member: They do not.

So they do not include landscaping.

Abe: So that’s what I’m trying to ask the question.

Can I… can I just repeat the question
cause, I think we’re,
maybe I’m not communicating.

These numbers do not include 10% given contingencies.

They do not include landscaping and sprinkler system…

Yes. Abe: What else?

Fencing and gate.

Gate is not included.

That’s…

Let me ask a stupid question.

Is the architect expenses or fees…
are they included in these numbers?

No.

No matter what the final number is,

I want it to be a fixed fee.

Filmmaker: I was surprised to hear that Rawley
was taking a fee with everything. Was that…

Yeah, I think, I don’t know…
there’s some miscommunication in the process
or something didn’t go right.

For now, the number stands at a $100,000 fixed rate.

Let me make a really
kind of a hard point here.

You know, by the grace of God,
we get a lot of support, GoFundMe,
and we raised over a million,
but this is it.

Anybody thinks that we can dip
into a bigger hole
and get more money? That’s not the case.

I’m taking it very seriously
that that money be spent wisely
and that it be spent judiciously.

This is too high to begin with!

Why is it high?

And I haven’t really gotten
an answer to that.

For Dr. Hashmi, for Omar, for Amjad,
for Kenny, for I, this is a trust.

This is actually a responsibility
none of us wanted.

Not only we’re responsible
in the eyes of God,
we’re responsible to all these people
that’s entrusted us with that money!

But remember, the guy up there
is helping us too.

Let’s still remember that somebody’s
giving us a little help
that we’re unaware of too.

This area.

Come straight here.

The ladies can come here.

This room can be over…

Abe: So we’re short $300,000 to $350,000.

[Indistinct conversations]

Abe: It’s daunting.

There are so many decisions to be made.

Rawley: Well, we don’t know how much we’re gonna need.

Abe: This is torture.

Rawley: Now this is what it could look like,
with two minarets.

Omar: The two minarets is gonna cost $1.8 million.

Uh, that’s including everybody’s fees.

They are trying to go back and look at the cost
by removing one of the minarets
and just build it with one.

But what’s left, you know?

The minarets are gone.

And it’s not just a mosque. It’s a symbol of defiance.

We’re looking at possibly reopening GoFundMe again
and ask for donations.

These are short…

And we’re hoping the generosity of people
that if some, you know, these donors,
if each one gave $10, that would solve the problem.

Community Member: So the groundbreaking starts today.

How long… Omar: Well, um,
we won’t see anything moving
on the ground itself,
probably about a month.

That’s looking good. How’re you?

Fine. [Laughs]

That’s good. There we go.

Hashmi: Can I have your attention please?

[Applause]

If I get emotional, please excuse me.

On behalf of Victoria Islamic Center,

I welcome all of you
to a very beautiful moment for us.

Abe: The fact that you’re here means
we are not succumbing to pressure,
we’re not succumbing to hate.

Look at it this way.

Hate is behind bars right now.

We’re here, we’re celebrating together.

By raising over a million dollars
from over 90 countries.

Every single one of these people
have a credit in the building
that’s gonna be ready in few months.

Now the big day is the next announcement,
once this building is ready.

I’m not gonna give another date!

We’ll just wait! Thank you.

[Applause]

Mr. McCoy.

You know, the second day after all this happened,
he called and he offered his services,
and we are so grateful.

And he’ll tell you his story in his own words.

Thank you.

It’s been an emotional ride for me,
both personally and professionally.

And so we find ourselves here today,
to start anew
with rebuilding of this mosque.

We will, with God’s help.

You guys, stand behind the shovel there.

Community Member: Flip it over.

[Cheering]

Hashmi: There you go!

News Reporter: How much is the dollar amount?

Uh, we’re pulling our hairs

I mean, numbers are so high
that we hope what we collected would be enough!

News Reporter: So is there anything else you wanna mention
about today? Hashmi: Thank you.

News Reporter: Mm-hmm. Thank you so much.

Lanell: They are such sweet people.

They’re praying that, that this is gonna be the time
when everybody says, “We’re all in it together.”

But I don’t, I don’t think that’s the case.

You know, we did this GoFundMe account,
which really is what got us, I think
on the, on the books, so to speak.

And I think in my mind, most people’s biggest concern
is “How are y’all spending that million dollars?”

They always ask me about the building.

No one ever asked me about the people.

“Or how is Omar?

How is he handling it?”

I never get that question.

We all want to think that we’re all neighbors,
but I can tell you in my neighborhood,
nobody talks to nobody.

Especially during any campaign,
when signs start going in the yard, boy.

“Oh, we’re not talking to that neighbor.”

[Indistinct conversations]

Omar: Well, I’ve known you for a long time
and you’ve always been a man of integrity.

And uh, and I hope as you said,
that you will keep that promise
to the people of Congressional
District 27.

I’ll do my best to be honest with you
about where we are with things,
to listen to you well.

I appreciate it!

Omar: I’d like one day to maybe even invite you
to the mosque.

And once we have, uh, you know, the,
uh, you know, the,
the new mosque open, I think it, it,
it helps to address
members of our congregation.

And, you know, there is a lot of…

I’m really sorry. We’re going to have…

Yeah, no problem. No problem.

Michael, pleasure meeting you.

We’ll talk again. All right. Thanks a lot.

Lanell: I get frustrated because I’m like,
y’all need to say something,
but I let it go.

Makes you wonder.

Is every community like this?

Allen: Hi, I heard y’all talk
wondering if people are just clueless or not!

Are you filming me?

Filmmaker: Is that all right?

Yeah, that’s fine.

I’ve been around, you know,
a lot of obviously white people
for a long time
and it amazes me how often
people are just clueless.

They just write other people off.

Community Member: The Bible instructs us,
to pray for those
who are in authority over us.

Allen: The Pastor over at Parkway Baptist Church
is pretty vehemently anti-Islamic.

Lanell: He’s the one that wrote all that stuff
about community gathering in the street
right after the mosque burned.

He’s the one that wrote all the bad stuff
about questioning whether you should
go there or not.

Allen: Yeah.

Lanell: He said it’s not the Christian thing to do.

There are a lot of folks who are white supremacists.

They just don’t consciously realize it
because they have absorbed that over the years.

I can just barely remember whites-only water fountains.

Cause you know, I was born in 1960.

Lanell: Guys, stand up, sit up tall.

I need to see everybody’s face!

Don’t hide behind somebody’s head.

I started out as a school teacher
for 10 years,
fell in love with kids there, and then decided,
how could I be more involved in my community
by bridging kids and community people together?

One, two, three.

Lanell: I created a mentor program.

I had a student that I’ve been mentoring for a while.

I asked him, do you speak Spanish?

And he said he,
he was very shy at saying that he did.

And I said, please teach me!

And he looked at me and he’s like,

“Why do you wanna know?”

Allen: The church I used to pastor at,
we had one Hispanic family
and none of these folks’ kids
could speak Spanish
because mom and daddy,
even though they could,
they wouldn’t teach it to ’em
because they were trying
to integrate them more fully
into the Anglo culture of this area.

That’s part of that whole colonial mindset,
where we have to impress upon others
the superiority of our language and our culture.

Gloria: This has to do with history.

The war started
between Mexico and Texas.

All these American people
literally took all the land
that belonged to Mexican families.

They took away the pride, the ownership
that the Hispanics, the culture felt.

When they were stripped of that…
your self-esteem goes down,
everything else goes down.

That comes from generations before us.

I think Vincent had
a lot of issues within himself.

Yeah.

I think there’s a whole picture there
that we’re missing in the, in the process.

[Sound of steps, shuffling of papers]

My name is Mario Longoria Pérez.

I’m an electrician by trade.

Does your son work?

Yes, he works with us.

Do you know if your son
has a criminal record?

Uh, not to my knowledge.

And do you know if your son
speaks Spanish?

Uh, very, very little.

He knows, Taco Bell?

[Laughs] Well,
where did he attend,
say high school, in Victoria?

In Victoria, Texas.

He’s been in Christian schools
all his life,
except for the last two years
of his high school.

No other questions.

Do you work with your son
day to day?

And are you two Yes, ma’am.
always together on the job?

All the time.

Have you ever heard your son
make any sort of comments
about Muslims?

Not to my knowledge.

Were search warrants obtained
for Mr. Pérez’s residence?

Yes.

During that search warrant,
two laptops were recovered
from the defendant’s home.

That was found in the attic
of Mr. Pérez’s residence, correct?

Yes. We had the owner come in,
and they confirmed that is the laptop
that was stolen from the mosque.

They also stole an electric meter?

Electric meter, yes.

Khandelwal: Was subsequent investigation done
of what the defendant does
for a living?

Yes. And what is it?

Uh, he’s an electrician.

After the search warrants
were executed,
was an interview conducted
by ATF agents
with confidential informant
number one? Yes.

CI One stated that, uh,
Mr. Pérez was inside the mosque
for about 20 minutes.

After he broke in, that he left
with the electrical meter,
and the laptop.

The CI One stated that Mr. Pérez…
set a fire inside the mosque.

Mary Grace: Without their criminal informant,
they don’t have a case.

It’s basically their…
what he says
against our proof. We know for a fact
that Vince was with Maddie
at the hospital.

But I have to tell you, um,
I don’t blame Maddie and her family,
but these individuals brought into Vince’s life
are relatives of hers.

This particular person
that we’re talking about
has a criminal record.

Mary Grace: He lived next door to Vince
in the duplex with Maddie’s grandparents.

We met the grandparents
the day that Mason was born.

They came and spoke only Spanish and I,
I don’t speak Spanish,
but Mario and his father had,
the grandfather that’s raising him,
had a great conversation.

The young man had access
to his house,
had keys to his personal space,
and took full advantage of him.

Vince was trying to mentor,
as he did in ROTC program.

Exactly the same.

Mary Grace: So Maddie and her family do feel horrid
about what their family
has brought into our family.

Khandelwal: Did you ever do any research
into whether he was actually part of the military?

Yes, I believe that the records showed
that he was, uh,
in the United States Air Force
for I think a total of five weeks.

Do you know why he left
only after five weeks?

The documentation indicated
he was having a hard time…
adjusting to military.

Khandelwal: During the process of him being arrested,
did he make some
spontaneous statements
related to his own death?

They handcuffed him, when they did that,
they said his demeanor…
changed dramatically.

He made some type of a statement as to…
he should have stayed in the military
and been deployed somewhere and…
maybe he could have been
killed in action.

Or maybe he would have
tripped and fallen
and shot himself
accidentally and died.

Jon: I hate to say this, but a lot of people in Victoria
have a kind of self-loathing for the place that they live in.

People feel trapped in this city,
like they can’t get out of this small town.

Like they can’t realize the opportunities and dreams
that they could get.

That manifests itself in a lot of different ways.

Seems like maybe one of the ways that might have manifested
is through this, uh, arson suspect.

Although I have to withhold my judgment
until the case finishes.

Cassie: I didn’t immediately just think,
“oh, this person in Victoria is evil.”

I thought, “Oh, this person is,
“you know, a symptom.”

They are the outcome of being stifled in this town.

Yeah. At first I was,
you know, angry and indignant
and then I just, I was just sad,
because how do you come back from that?

I really don’t see a lot of,
a lot of conversation
about him being Hispanic.

I wish I could say that I was shocked.

Cassie: That’s what made it
completely unsurprising to me.

As soon as they said “Marq Pérez,”

I said, of course it is.

Because there is no one
who has more racism in themselves
than like someone who’s been oppressed
more than the highest tier.

And the closer you get to white,
the more people you have to hate.

I guess my family has a very kind of,
um,
racist view
of undocumented people.

I found that really jarring,
for this kind of lack of empathy,
to really understand
how invested they are
in, uh, conforming.

Christian: The reaction that I have
to him being kicked out of the military.

When you recognize that what you’ve tried
to make yourself become isn’t good enough,
the shame spiral that you go through
as a result of that
and the inability to accept that
creates immediate projection.

Who’s the next person I can hate?

Whatever the cause was,
I think that was
a devastating blow to his self-worth,
to his view of himself as,
as a man.

Aethne: I mean, looking at the bigger picture,
all these different mass shootings
and hate crimes and things getting
set on fire, you know,
things are starting to get worse
for everyone.

And, “Oh, it’s, these people over here,
“coming over and ruining everything.”

“Oh, it’s these people wanting
“to take over the country.”

There’s all this oppression,
and finally when it comes out,
you just reach into the closet,
grab one of your three AR-15’s.

And, and that’s,

I know it’s terrifying,
but you know,
this happening here in town
just kind of cemented that it was real.

And I don’t think it’s gonna go away
anytime soon.

I don’t think it’s gonna get better.

[Music playing]

[Cheering]

[Despacito playing] ♪ Despacito ♪

♪ Quiero desnudarte a besos despacito ♪

♪ Firmar las paredes de tu laberinto ♪

♪ Y hacer de tu cuerpo todo un manuscrito ♪

♪ Sube, sube, sube ♪

♪ -Sube, sube -Oh ♪

[Continues indistinct]

Omar: No, seriously. On a serious note, Dale,
do you think we’ll ever reach
a reasonable gun policy in this country?

I mean, who in the world
need 10,000 bullets?

I mean, I just wanna
understand that! Why,

why would you want that, Dale?

Cause I can!

It’s my right, God-given right!

But Dale, do you need 10,000?

Yes I do! Because I have
the right to have it.

We’re here for Senator Ted Cruz.

He’s here in Victoria!

Ted is a true conservative, true Texan,
and we’re looking forward to hearing from him!

[Cheering]

God bless Texas!

[Cheering]

I wanna talk to you
about victories.

Two years ago,
ISIS controlled much of Syria and Iraq.

They declared to the world
they had a caliphate
from which they were going to export terror
all over the world.

Today, ISIS has lost
virtually every square inch
of the territory they had!

[Cheering] We’ve taken it all back.

It’s about security.

Because security is also
securing our border
and keeping our nation safe.

[Crowd cheers] Ted Cruz! Ted Cruz! Ted Cruz!

Did Confidential Informant
Number One
discuss the arson on January 28th?

Yes. The CI indicated that Mr. Pérez…
hated Muslims
and believed that the people
that attended this mosque
were somehow involved with ISIS.

He was going to the mosque
to see if the people
that go to the mosque
were hiding weapons
because he believed they were terrorists.

[Thunder rumbles, rain falls, frogs croak]

Omar: To call us ISIS sympathizers
is extremely hurtful.

It hasn’t been easy.

You know, I wake up every day
and aspire to be the best person I can be.

To make my parents proud.

Live to the expectations
that my religion dictates upon me.

We just want to be a, a good citizen.

We want to work hard.

We want to provide for our families
and we want to basically live in a safe environment.

It is not much to ask for.

There is a homegrown terrorist,
pretty much,
that’s called Marq Pérez.

He actually lives in Victoria.

He went to church in Victoria.

He went to high school in Victoria.

You always want to blame the bad
on either minority or immigrants
or out of town.

It’s not, not one of us.

Omar: This is the year of the faith being tested.

I think at the end of the day you look back and you say,
well, did I prevail?

Did I let the tragedy, you know, sucker me
or did I sucker the tragedy?

[Beeping of vehicle in reverse]

[Brakes hiss]

¿Cómo te llamas? [Laughs]

We have a capacity of 112.

Four, five, six rows for men
and four rows for the women.

The carpet has been donated from Turkey.

You know what the Al-Aqsa Mosque is?

Third most important mosque in our faith is in Jerusalem.

That’s the same color.

Abe: This is exciting!

Finally see something happening.

Right, Omar? Yep!

We came in the morning like,
you know, a child, so excited with a new toy.

We just came in the morning
and watching when he was pouring the concrete.

So whose genius idea was it
to stop the GoFundMe campaign
after seven days?

We could have kept the darn thing going!

[Laughs]

We wouldn’t be in this hole anymore.

Well, I think, I think the reason
we did that is because, uh,
we didn’t want to…

We thought we were over!

We didn’t want to be greedy!

Filmmaker: Can you talk a little bit
about what’s been happening with Rawley,
regarding the miscommunication?

I, I don’t want to… because it’s been resolved.

We were surprised with the invoice,
but at the end of the day,

Rawley put a lot of hours into it.

So it’s a fair deal for everybody.

Abe: But to cut costs,
instead of having two minarets we’ll have one minaret.

Osama: Allahu Akbar.

Abe: And the mosque members themselves
donated from their own money close to $300,000.

We are willing to do what…
donate, do whatever it takes
to go back to before January 28th, 2017,
get our life,
our boring life back together,
our beautiful little mosque back.

We’re going ahead and living our lives.

So hopefully justice is served
and we’ve got a mosque to build.

Omar: But why did our mosque get burned?

American Muslims have been subjected
to these ugly rhetorics for the last,
you know, 18 to 24 months.

Uh, specifically it began
basically on the political stage.

There was no coincidence that the perpetrator
solidified his hate for Muslims
on the night of the travel ban.

[Horns honk]

News Anchor: The Supreme Court’s, uh,
upholding the president’s travel ban.

The chief justice and others
upheld the administration’s argument
that this is a national security concern.

News Commentator: There was dissent
from the more liberal members, uh, of the court.

The justices focused on the anti-Muslim sentiment
that could have potentially been behind the ban.

Emett: We don’t like Muslims.

We’re banning them
from coming to our country.

We’re locking up our Latino children and infants.

We start today to put a stop to it.

I know it’s an uphill battle, uh,
because there’s just a lot of
Republicans here.

We just gotta push the needle,
get more Democrats to vote, or have Republicans cross over.

Omar: Please help me out,
where in the hell can you find
middle-of-the-road with a Republican?

[Laughter] I mean, let’s face it!

Those voters are just simply racist!

You have to get angry about the state that we are in!

Community Member: If they’re not angry right now,
they’re not gonna get angry.

Omar: As-Salaam-Alaikum. Brother and sisters,

I wanna introduce Eric Holguin
who is running actually for Congress
on a Democratic ticket
because I hate to say it,
there are no friends for us

left in the Republican party.

He’ll speak a little bit.

As-Salaam-Alaikum!

Very good!

Holguin: This country should not be having
religious tests, uh,
to come into the country.

It’s un-American and it’s not
what we represent.

Omar: As a Muslim society,
we need to be cognizant of what’s going on
on the political side
and elect representatives
that are going to represent our values
and protect us as minorities
in this country.

Hashmi: These are all politicians.
I don’t care which party they belong to.

They’re the same.

Filmmaker: Do you think politics led to the mosque being burned?

That was not a, uh, Republican person.

No! He has hate in his heart.

Nobody forced him to come and burn it.

He did.

If there is anybody, anybody real conservative,
it’s a Muslim!

They follow the rules written by God,
treat everybody equally,
have free speech, free religion.

All those are in the Islamic faith.

So if there is
a true Muslim country somewhere,
tell me about it!

There is none.

The thing is, those who are sincere,
they really want service… they can’t win!

They cannot win.

News Anchor: Welcome the two candidates
for the United States Senate!

I think faith-based organizations should,
should stay out of politics.

You go to a place of worship sometimes to find peace!

To get away from all this headache
and politics and war!

People need to get angry!

They need to get angry
and translate that anger into votes.

Being angry and sit on our hands
ain’t gonna do crap!

I mean, excuse me, but…

TV: …that your vote goes to the candidate of your choice.

Good afternoon, everybody.

My name is Omar Rachid.

I am a member of the Victoria Islamic Center.

When asked if I would introduce Beto,

I said, are you kidding me?

I mean this is like a dream come true!

And it gives me the microphone!

Beto O’Rourke! [Cheering]

O’Rourke: Thank you, Omar!

Victoria, how are you doing?

[Cheering]

It’s really a huge honor to be introduced by Omar.

When the Islamic Center
was burned down in January of 2017.

In the face of some real darkness.

Victoria met that challenge
with the absolute best in this community.

It is up to all of us to decide
whether or not this is American.

Whether or not being Muslim is somehow inherently dangerous.

But what if…
we stopped going to war
all the time everywhere,
all over the planet.

17 years in Afghanistan,

27 in Iraq.

We’re in Syria, and Yemen,

Somalia, and Libya, and Niger.

[cheering and applause]

News Anchor: Reporting in Victoria
where a pre-trial hearing was held on Wednesday
for suspected mosque arsonist, Marq Pérez.

The defense counsel Mark Di Carlo
claims that the jury panel in Victoria
could be contaminated.

The case is being handled, in our opinion,
not as a criminal case but as a political case.

There were various catch words such as “diversity”, et cetera,
allegations that this was done for religious reasons.

These cases have to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Omar: I’ve been asked to recuse myself
from being in the courtroom even during jury selection
cause I’m testifying later on in the week.

It’s important that his lawyer
feels his client is getting a fair trial
because that’s what our justice system is all about.

Abe: It’s not like we forgot about the arson itself.

We haven’t. Every time the door opens
and a lot of people are there

I’m worried, could be a shooter,
you know, could it be a shooter?

If Muslims here cannot peacefully
come to their mosque and pray,
what kind of freedom we have?

Emett: We’re all walking on pins and needles
on so many issues right now.

Both the defense and the prosecution
are gonna be, uh,
challenged to find an impartial jury.

If he feels he’s innocent,

I mean he’s innocent till proven guilty!

Susannah: I hope he can get a fair trial here.

And I do think that we’re
a fair enough community to listen.

All of us are talking around this table
as though they’ve got the right guy!

Omar: I’m hopeful that
you know, the jury will be…

You’re way too glass full, dude,
you need to be looking
at half empty.

Will be objective.

Hashmi: The trial for the arson starts on Monday.

Please make sure to show up for support!

If the jury sees us,
there is a definite impression on them
that we are serious.

We want results, we want justice!

Carter: The trial starts today.

Federal courthouse, nine o’clock.

Wade: Jury selection this morning.

Carter: You’ve gotta be looking for biases.

You’ve gotta be looking for racism.

You’ve gotta be looking for issues.

If the opening comments
are actually made this afternoon,

I intend to be there.

The motive is important for me to put a closure.

Maybe just maybe,
somehow you can feel some remorse,
that would be good for me. I would feel good about it.

Hobbs: You never know what a jury’s going to do.

You never know what’s in their mind.

Emett: This young man needs his day in court.

Morning.

Hello.

Mary Grace: I’m not gonna give them an ounce.

Mario: Justice will be done.

And the hand of God is on Vince right now.

Let’s take the jury.

[Steps approaching]

Mr. Khandelwal, you may make an opening statement.

Thank you, your honor.

“I’ll burn every mother [bleep]
with a raggedy towel on their head.”

Those are the words of the defendant,

Marq Vincent Pérez,
just a few weeks before he burned
the Victoria Islamic Center to the ground.

As the Victoria firefighters are fighting the fire,
the defendant is using his phone
to take pictures of his handiwork.

Trophies.

Omar: So what did you think of the opening statement?

Um, “I’ll burn every mother [bleep]
with a raggedy towel on their head.”

Wow.

Sad.

Filmmaker: He was watching the fire and all of you
while you were standing across the street looking at it.

No way.

Filmmaker: He was there taking photos.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

How callous.

Just terrible.

Hashmi: Oh God, in the time of this trial,
give us peace.

Omar: This has been
a year and a half of a roller coaster ride.

Di Carlo: Does an American
have the right to be concerned about Muslim terrorists?

Omar: The defense brought ISIS into it,
brought terrorism into it.

Woman: A lot of people have some preconceived ideas.

Mosque member: You can hear the hate,
you can see the planning.

He needs to pay for what he did.

Not only to the mosque, but to us.

Woman: “A Town Called Victoria”
is available on Amazon Prime Video.

Woman: I didn’t grow up
ever knowing anything about the Muslims.

I hate to use the word, but racism.

Anchor: A fire ripped through a mosque in Victoria.

Hobbs: The president put a ban on Muslims.

Omar: People need to get angry.

What happens to one happens to all, I believe.

Woman: We will. We will.

We will uplift each other.

We will work hard together.

We will protect each other,

we will challenge one another.

We will inspire each other.

We will celebrate together.

We are all neighbors.

See our unique stories
on Independent Lens.

Woman: Independent Lens is made possible in part by
the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,
a private corporation funded by the American people.

Acton Family Giving.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The Wyncote Foundation.

The National Endowment for the Arts.

And by contributions from viewers like you.

Thank you.

The Independent Lens and Reel South co-presentation
of “A Town Called Victoria”
was made possible in part by…
The Ford Foundation.

The WNET groups Exploring Hate:
Antisemitism, Racism and Extremism initiative,

with principal support

from the Sylvia A. and Simon B. Poyta Programming Endowment
to Fight Anti-Semitism.

Firelight Media.

Independent Filmmaker Project and HBO,
through the New True Stories Grant.
Islamic Scholarship Fund.

Austin Film Society.

And others.

A complete list is available from PBS.