Protester Sets Self on Fire After Losing a Legal Case

A Garden Grove man apparently distraught over losing a court decision set himself ablaze Friday outside Westminster Superior Court, police said.

Muhammad Qureshi, 50, was in critical condition late Friday in the burn unit at UCI Medical Center in Orange.

Qureshi doused himself with gasoline and set his clothes on fire just a few feet from where dozens of people were standing in line to pay traffic fines near the front entrance of the building, police said.

“He walked right outside the entry to the courthouse and ignited himself,” Westminster Police Sgt. Tom Blackburn said.

Detectives from the nearby police station and bystanders used a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze, police said.

Garden Grove Mayor Bruce Broadwater said Qureshi, who was known for disruptive behavior at City Council meetings and at the Islamic Society of Garden Grove, had been forbidden by a judge Thursday from entering City Hall, the police station or the mosque.

“He was a nice guy, but he came to every council meeting and protested about everything he could think of,” Broadwater said.

Haithym “Danny” Bundakji, chairman of the Islamic Society of Orange County, said Qureshi had worshiped regularly at the Garden Grove mosque but had begun disrupting Friday prayers. In 1997, he said, Qureshi was barred from the property but continued to heckle people as they entered the mosque.

“We pray for his speedy recovery,” Bundakji said. “He’s still our brother in Islam, and may God guide him.”