10 years is bullshit. He attempted to kill hundreds of people and it was a hate crime. Lock this fucker away for longer. People get longer sentences for possessing a vial of crack. What a fucking joke.

This sends a message that you can attempt to kill as many people as you want and you'll get off with a lighter sentence than someone hurting only themselves in an effort to feel good.

10 years is a long time. Your point about longer sentences for drugs points to the ludicrous nature of our war on drugs, not a problem with this sentence.

So in 10 years (less with early release for good behavior) he'll be really pissed off and walk in to Neighbours with a automatic rifle.

I agree that our war on drugs and mandatory minimum sentencing is ridiculous.

However, this man's intent was to burn hundreds of people alive, he attempted to do it, it's not like a hair-brained plan he posted on social media about and someone alerted the authorities. He walked into an establishment, through it, saw the faces of happy revelers celebrating another year of their lives, good and bad, and poured gasoline along an stairway/exit and set it ablaze, walking away and leaving them to die. HUNDREDS of people that he tried to kill, survived because a couple of people acted quickly and were able to extinguish the flames and get people to safety. He then tried to flee the country.

I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy for this sociopath. He has no place in society, now, or 10 years from now. I don't believe in the death penalty, but I do believe in removing dangerous monsters from society by locking them away.

There is no difference in his actions whether the people lived or died. He chose to kill those people, it is by luck and vigilance that there were no deaths. However, if the opposite had happened and everyone burned alive, this guy did nothing different. It's actually quite possible he would have never been caught as the security camera footage would have been so badly damaged that it would not likely have been recovered, and even if it was, it still wouldn't be evident, without any witnesses to identify him as a suspect, that it was him.

Fuck him. This is a miscarriage of justice.

@1/4 - Very well stated.

Just as if someone attempts to but does not kill a person, they get a less serious punishment, someone who attempts to, but does not kill several people gets a less serious punishment than if they had succeeded. That's part of the core of our justice system.

Several people. I'll remember to jot that down next time I'm trying to remember what to refer to a gathering of around 700 people should be called.

Must be like when Richard Reid tried to kill several people aboard a flight by igniting a homemade bomb in his shoe that didn't explode and was sentenced to life in prison.

@5: So how many times did you jerk it before hitting submit? Be honest.

@#7:
Richard Reid was sentenced to 3 consecutive life sentences and 110 years without parole....for killing the same number of people. (zero)

@11: That sounds like a pretty ludicrous sentence to me.

@12: I agree.....but doesn't it make 10 years for endangering 700+ people seem less severe? I get it that neither Masmari or Reid actually committed murder but the notion of letting them off with a slap on the wrist for being inept seems weak.

While I'm glad this sociopath/hater was caught, tried, and sentenced.... I, too, think the incredible irregularity of sentencing vs the crime is a real problem for achieving actual justice.

Additionally, our (corporate) prison system is a horror-show of "justice" as it is, and people come out more damaged than when they went in. So this sentence will do neither him nor us any favors, and he may well come out with a deeper hatred, deteriorated social skills, and even less left to lose than before, making him a graver threat to those around him. If Ken M. is right and he will be deported, then we may be able to breathe easy, but anyone he might choose to hate in his theoretical home country will have someone closer to a psychopath to deal with.

Again, I think this fuck is insane, and I'm endlessly glad that quick- and calm-witted people managed to avoid a firey death. I just wish we had a better sentencing solution overall.

@14 - With all the white men shooting up schools and workplaces around here AND nationwide... when is Biggles going to acknowledge we have a White Man problem?

He won't last very long in prison. If they even let him out in the general population he will be toast in a very short time.

Ten years for 700 counts of attempted murder is a fucking insult, and US Attorney Jenny Durkan is a fucking joke. The only clear message this sentence sends is that her office doesn't give enough of a shit about prosecuting anti-gay terrorism to put in the work of a trial when they can cut a deal and soft-walk the bastard. They had no need or reason to go easy on him.

@13: 10 years of which he must serve AT LEAST 8.5 hardly sounds like a slap on the wrist.

At the same time, describing it as 700 counts of attempted murder doesn't sound unreasonable. I wonder what that would have gotten him in jail.

Keep in mind he was charged with arson, not attempted murder, because it is unlikely an attempted murder charge would have stuck.

In our justice system people are not tried for what might or could have happened, they are charged for what did happen.

I know the urge to demand harsher penalties for crimes against "your people" is strong, but that is not how the justice system works.

will he get deported after serving the sentence? i'd like to see that. despite the impression i get that the dude isn't playing with a full deck.

Christ almighty, if you can't even be bothered to know the facts of the case JUST shut the fuck up all of you.

Masmari is AN AMERICAN. He was born here. His parents are Libyan. He's not getting deported anywhere. He is a US citizen. And ten years was more than the prosecutors asked for.

I knew Musab. He was a fixture on the north end of the Hill. At one time he was an intesting and thoughtful guy. We're the ones who turned him in. He wasn't a sociopath. Or a Muslim extremist... since drank like a fish during Ramadan. He had friends who were gay. We don't know what happened. But he became dangerousness and erratic. He was high off his nut 80% of the time and was obviously mentally ill - talking to himself, laying in the streets, exposing himself, chanting and getting his ass kicked regularly.

@22 - I'm sure lawyers know better than I do, but it seems like a reasonable argument could have been made that his intention in setting fire to a crowded bar was to do harm to the people crowding the bar.

@27: Reasonable yes, but not without reasonable doubts. All the defense needs is a reasonable doubt. It is hard to prove a person's actual intent in court without some kind of hard evidence.

Also, no one has mentioned yet that he plead out, he did not go to trial. Plea deals often have someone plead guilty to a lesser crime when a greater crime would be hard to prove, and always come with lighter sentences.

What's with the antiquated racist terms? Did Glenn Beck recently wear "Mohommedan" like one of his Christmas Sweaters? Using Edwardian terms does not make you sound smarter, it's sad on top of pathetic. And no, I'm no more worried about Muslims than I am Christians. Plenty of good in both, plenty of horrors that come from the organized forms of either