Joseph Michael Schreiber, a Florida resident, was arrested Wednesday for the commission of arson with the modifier of a hate crime enhancement, for the attempted firebombing of the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, the mosque where Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen had attended services.

The attacks occurred on the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and on the Muslim holy day Eid al-Adha, also known as the Sacrifice Feast.

There are two and a half notable facts about Schreiber. The first is that he’s an ex-convict, with two previous arrests and imprisonments for theft.

The second is that he had made a number of (poorly written, execrably punctuated and capitalized) anti-Muslim posts on social media.

The half-notable one is the Schreiber himself identified as Jewish, having associated occasionally with the Reform synagogue Temple Beth El Israel, which I’m not entirely sure how to fit within the context of the crime.

I would love to be a fair and balanced person, but honesty compels me to admit that I can also be incredibly petty and vengeful towards those who irk me, so I am moved to ask, why isn’t this bigger news.

Some loon tries to burn down a mosque and we barely even heard about it. I had a religion and journalism class assignment to bring in a religiously linked story last week, after the fact. This story was literally tailor made and I completely forgot it, so scant is the coverage.

If it had been a Muslim trying to burn down a church on September 11th which apparently happens to be a religious holiday in this country, there would be a such a wailing and gnashing of teeth that it would have been impossible to go online. I would have retreated to my fortress of solitude (my apartment) to contemplate the future of mankind.

There are mitigating factors, in fairness. One, that the accused seems to be a giant moron. Which is fair.

All the lawyers involved in the case seem to have nodded and said, yes, he’s a giant idiot, with one, Omar Saleh, an attorney for the Council for American-Islamic Relations, going so far as to label him a “punk and degenerate,” words that bring some joy to my heart. It should be noted that Salah tarred Mateen with the same brush, denouncing his actions in his lawyerly way.

Another is that they apprehended Schreiber with ease and efficiency, collaring him after a tip-off. Schreiber was arrested without incident, and is being held without bail- deemed a danger to the community and a flight risk. And he is charged with doing crime in a hate-crime sorta way and carries a 30-year sentence, which is better than nothing.

This isn’t the first time this mosque has felt the charming touch of anti-Muslim sentiment in the states. According to Al-Jazeera, they’ve previously been harassed by a motorcycle gang circling the property, and in July, a Muslim man was assaulted outside the property.

But, as far as I can tell, there is no outrage. There are no infuriated liberals rising in incandescent wrath that the current political climate motivates idiots to commit hate crimes.

There are no hardcore detractors of the Muslim faith rushing to man the walls in defense of this (Jewish!) defender of truth, justice, and the American way. There isn’t a goddamn thing.

At least when those brave, proud Texans threw shit and torn Koran pages at the mosque in Pflugerville in the middle of the night, it got press (but not arrests).

I guess my point is this. Schreiber’s actions bother me, both for their pettiness, lack of forethought, and cowardice. If he had more moral courage and actual courage (and better spelling) he could have done what any right-thinking anti-Muslim bigot does and run for office and found ways to make the country more religiously intolerant through legislature.

Why aren’t we bringing this up, though? Why did it fly so low under the radar? Are we so burned out on religious hate crimes these days? Or do we, culturally, only care if the hate crime is going one way?

I’d like to think we’re better than that, though the evidence here is not helpful.