The owner of a cafe set on fire by a Bermudian man upset by foreign workers, has said he cannot understand why his business would have been targeted.Carlos Astwood was charged with attempted arson after he set fire to the door of Buzz Cafe on Pitts Bay Road.That trial ended in a hung jury earlier this month; Buzz owner Holger Eiselt said he remained baffled by the incident.Asked if he understood any of Mr Astwood’s reasoning, he said: “I can’t comment on that. I don’t know this person at all. The first I saw of him was the day I was supposed to go to court as a witness.”Mr Eiselt denied having any preference for foreign workers, and insisted Buzz was always happy to hire qualified Bermudians.“There are very few Bermudian chefs,” he said. “At the front of the house, we are training more and more Bermudians to do that kind of work. Most of our managers are Bermudian.”Mr Astwood admitted during the trial that he set fire to the Belvedere Building premises but argued that it had never been his intention to burn them down.The self-employed painter said he set the blaze to make “a statement” at businesses that hire too many non-Bermudians.The incident occurred shortly after 5am last October 28, and was captured on CCTV. A security guard was inside at the time.Jurors were unable to reach a consensus as to whether or not the fire had been intended as arson.The commercial building sits just west of the Hamilton city limits, It covers much of the block and houses multiple businesses.Lawyer Elizabeth Christopher told the court that Mr Astwood lit a small, contained fire to send a message to the Buzz owner.“We were all, obviously, worried,” said Mr Eiselt of staff reaction. “[We were worried] for everybody else in the building as well as our own staff. I have never had any issue like this with anybody in Bermuda.”Mr Eiselt referred further questions to a company spokesman.He told The Royal Gazette that the restaurant kept more Bermudians on staff than any other on the Island.“I have a hard time with this — there’s someone trying to set a fire at our place, and now I should answer for how many foreign staff we have?“A discussion moving away from someone setting a fire to a question about our employee numbers; that was not the discussion when it started.”The spokesman continued: “I train a lot of young Bermudians. One has been with us for more than two years. I pay for his hospitality college. I am trying to train my future general managers in Bermuda.”There are nine Buzz cafes spread across the Island. The spokesman said they have 16 chefs, one of whom is Bermudian.He added: “If a Bermudian chef comes here, he or she will have a job. There is no question.”Mr Astwood was arrested just days after the fire when he returned to the scene and was spotted by the security guard, who recognised his clothing from video footage.He was apprehended by police, who found him carrying newspaper clippings about the success of the Buzz chain, and on incidents of anti-Filipino graffiti that had been found around the Island.Mr Astwood, 47, of Paget, is expected to attend August 1 arraignments, when another trial date is to be set.Useful website: www.buzzcafe.bm.