Hundreds of people gathered at a vigil Friday night to show their support for a Manhattan Beach family whose home was set on fire in what appeared to be a targeted attack.
Federal and state investigators have joined the effort to find out how the apparently deliberately set fire started at the front door of an African-American family’s home, city authorities announced Friday.
The possibility that the early Wednesday morning fire was a hate crime is being investigated, according to the Manhattan Beach Police Department.
Homeowner Ron Clinton told KTLA he believes his family was targeted and that the fire was racially motivated.
“It’s very personal. Someone literally came to my front door,” Clinton said Thursday evening. “I wake up, I see flames, I see somebody with, I believe, the intent to hurt or kill.”
Clinton and his three children were asleep when he heard a “loud boom” about 2:15 a.m. He woke up and heard a similar noise again. When he got up, he saw the fire.
He got his children and the family dog out of the home, then grabbed a garden hose to spray the flames until firefighters arrived. His wife was out of town.
The remains of a scorched tire appeared to rest at the front door Thursday evening, and Clinton said he smelled gasoline. An abundance of evidence was gathered at the home, fire Chief
“I can’t say what a person’s motives are, but as a victim, I feel that we were targeted,” Clinton told KTLA. “There are very few African-Americans in Manhattan Beach. Why us? Why our house specifically?”
Clinton said his family has resided in the affluent beach city for 12 years. Now, his home’s front door is boarded up and the family is living in a hotel.
The Fire Department announced Thursday that the blaze — which occurred on a block of multimillion-dollar homes — was considered “suspicious.” The fire was being “aggressively” investigated, the city’s fire chief said.
On Friday, a news release from the city’s Police Department said that state and federal authorities had joined local police and fire officials on the case.
A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles office of the FBI said the federal agency was not involved. At a midafternoon news conference, city officials clarified that they had sought the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as the FBI.
The fire “from all indications appears to have been purposely set on the front porch,” the release stated, calling it a “very serious crime.”
The motive had not been determined, but a hate crime had not been ruled out, the release stated.
A neighbor, Peter Pham, had set up a page on the fundraising site fundly.com to gather money for a reward in the case. As the vigil began, it had garnered more than $21,000 in contributions.
“We are in shock over the fire bombing of the home of our Manhattan Beach neighbors, the Clintons. They fear this was a hate crime targeting them as an African American family,” the page read. “We must all respond.”
Clinton said he appreciated the support his family had received after the fire.
Anyone with information about the fire was asked to call Fire Investigator Mike Murrey at 310-345-0467 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
KTLA’s Kennedy Ryan contributed to this story.
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