November 28, 2010

Corvallis, Ore. — The FBI is teaming up with local law enforcement to investigate that suspicious fire at the mosque in Corvallis.  Investigators are trying to determine if the fire was some kind of hate crime or the work of an arsonist. 

The fire started around 2:15 Sunday morning.  Officials say it began toward the rear of the building where there is a broken window. 

FBI agents said a small administrative office inside is completely charred and destroyed, and there is also smoke damage on other parts of the building. 

Officials said although the man behind the Portland bomb threat, Mohamed Osman Mohamud did attend that mosque on occasion, at this time officials are not linking the two together. 

They said the FBI and the United States Department of Justice are involved in this case due to the possibility of a hate crime at a place of worship. 

“It’s a fire that initiated in a place of worship, said Art Balizan, FBI Special Agent in charge.  “It’s a potential civil rights investigation, we’re trying to determine if it’s a hate crime or an arson.” 

“I think it’s important that we’re here to show that we’re very concerned about protecting civil rights of people and make them feel that they can practice their religions and go about their day without worrying about anything like that,” said Dwight Holton, U.S. Attorney for Oregon. 

Law enforcement is asking anyone with information on the fire to contact the FBI or Corvallis Police.

http://kezi.com/news/local/196253

NEW YORK, Oct. 26 –

NEW YORK, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) today called on law enforcement authorities to step up protective measures for a mosque in that state that has again been targeted by vandalism.

In the fourth such incident since August, members of Masjid Noor in Huntington, N.Y., yesterday found broken glass and nails scattered on the driveway of the facility. The vandalism occurred while some 30 people attended religious classes in the mosque. Police are investigating the incidents as possible hate crimes.

Last week, CAIR-NY called on the FBI to investigate a previous nail attack on the mosque as a hate crime.

“We urge local law enforcement authorities to step up patrols in the area of the mosque and again ask the FBI to add its resources to the investigation of these disturbing incidents,” said CAIR-NY Community Affairs Director Faiza N. Ali. “We ask state and national religious and political leaders to speak out against the growing anti-Muslim hatred in our society that can lead to such incidents.”

Last week, CAIR’s Washington State office held a news conference in Seattle with two Muslim women who were allegedly attacked at a gas station by an assailant shouting racial and religious slurs.

Other recent anti-Muslim incidents include an attack on a New York Muslim mother and child, the arrest of New York teens who allegedly harassed a Muslim student because of his faith and the defacement of a South Carolina mosque.

Mosques in California, Tennessee, New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arizona, Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas, and Florida have faced vocal opposition or have been similarly targeted by hate incidents in recent months.

Read More: http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20101026/pl_usnw/DC88880_1

 Tue Oct 12, 7:20 PM

Yellowknife RCMP are investigating what the city’s Muslims consider to be a hate crime after a picture of the Prophet Muhammad was found at their place of worship.

Nur Ali told CBC News that he went to the Yellowknife Islamic Centre to pray early Monday morning when he saw the picture glued to the door women use to enter the centre.

Ali said the picture showed the face of a bearded man wearing a turban and having eyes “like a crazy person.” The name of Muhammad, the founding prophet of Islam, was shown under the diagram.

Islam forbids visual depictions of the Prophet Muhammad. In some countries, it is an offence punishable by death.

“It’s very serious,” Ali said. “If you remember a few years back, one publisher in Denmark, he did something like this and all over the world there was a demonstration, and people even died for that.”

In September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten printed a series of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, describing the feature as a challenge to many artists’ perceived self-censorship regarding Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

Some Muslims believe any depiction of the Prophet whether in a positive or negative light is blasphemous because it could inspire idolatry.

The cartoons sparked international outrage when other newspapers across Europe and then around the globe reprinted the cartoons in 2006. Demonstrations against the cartoons grew violent in some locations, with protesters killed and various embassies attacked.

Yellowknife RCMP told CBC News on Tuesday that they are investigating the situation with officers analyzing the picture and asking neighbours if they have seen anything suspicious.

Police did not confirm if the case is being treated as a hate crime or a mischief case. Anyone with information is asked to call Yellowknife RCMP or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

In the meantime, members of the Yellowknife Islamic Centre say they plan to install three or four security cameras around the facility by the end of this year.

Ali said never im his four years living in Yellowknife has he experienced discrimination or hatred because of his faith.

He said he believes the incident is isolated and feels Yellowknife residents are accepting of Muslims.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/101012/canada/canada_north_yknife_muslim_centre_muhammed_1

 Oct 14, 2010

Bacon Protests at a South Carolina Mosque

Anti-Mosque activists in South Carolina spelled out protest with bacon.

Mosque protesters in South Carolina have taken a unique approach.

A disturbing sign of intolerance at a Florence, SC mosque. Members say someone wrote the words “pig and “chump” in bacon outside the walkway earlier this week. It’s especially offensive because most Muslims do not eat pig products. Darryl Hughee lives across the street from the Islamic Center. He says the center has been a positive influence on the community.

“Shame on them. Whoever did what they did, it has to be a mental thing, you know. I mean, kids will be kids though, you know what I’m saying.” Hughee elaborates.

Now a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group is calling on the FBI to investigate.

Because the crime wasn’t targeted to a specific individual, police are investigating this as a form of harassment rather than a hate crime.

http://www.wbko.com/home/headlines/Bacon_Protests_at_a_South_Carolina_Mosque_104940079.html

Severed pig’s head dumped at mosque

Thursday, 23 September, 2010 
8:18 AM

A SEVERED pig’s head has been discarded outside a mosque in Cambridge, sparking alarm among the city’s Muslim community.

The head was discovered on the steps of the place of worship by families on their way to prayers on Monday night.

Last night religious leaders were due to hold an emergency meeting at the Shah Jalal Bangladeshi Community House in Darwin Drive.

The act, which has been described as a hate crime, is considered offensive as Muslims believe pigs are unclean.

A worshipper at the mosque, who did not wish to be named, said: “It is a terrible insult. There are about 40 families who go to the centre and everyone is highly emotional at the moment.

“Some families found it as they went for prayer at about 9pm. It was a very ugly sight. This was a nasty and appalling thing to do. We thought we had good relations with the community around here.

“The police came and took the head away for forensic examination. This has caused a lot of upset.”

Shaikh Abdul Mabud, from the Islamic Academy in Cambridge, said: “I think this is a hate crime.

“It shows a lack of religious understanding and tolerance. We are all shocked.”

Cambridge’s MP Julian Huppert has joined with Muslim leaders to condemn the attack and police have launched an investigation.

He said: “This is absolutely appalling and clearly deeply upsetting for worshippers.

“Cambridge prides itself on being a strong multi-racial city, and this abhorrent act will in no way undermine the strong community spirit that exists here.

“I urge anyone who knows anything about this incident to work with the police so that the perpetrator can be caught promptly and dealt with.”

Read More: http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/news/severed_pig_s_head_dumped_at_mosque_1_655197

3 Charged for Painting Slurs on Mosque Wall

Sept 10, 2010

Hudson, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities say they’ve charged three young men with committing a hate crime for spray painting a racial slur on a wall at a Hudson Valley mosque.

Police in the city of Hudson say Christopher Osborn and Roy Francis, both 20, and 19-year-old James Glover III, were arrested Thursday. The men, all from Hudson, were charged with aggravated harassment, conspiracy, making graffiti, and criminal mischief, which is the hate crime aspect of the charges.

Authorities say the men painted the racial slur on the back wall of the Hudson Islamic Center just after midnight Wednesday.

Osborn and Glover have pleaded not guilty and were sent to the Columbia County Jail.

Francis was being held in jail pending his arraignment Friday afternoon.

It couldn’t immediately be determined if they had lawyers.

http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/3-Charged-for-Painting-Slurs-on-Mosque-Wall/TyAnxzlVQUeLNY2FJMHzJw.cspx?rss=102

New York mosque vandalized with racial slur

09/09/10

mosque in Hudson, New York was vandalized early Wednesday morning with a spray-painted racial slur on the side of the building, local TV news station WNYT reports.

“I thought…maybe somebody hates us.  I was thinking that way.  Or something like that— I don’t know,” said Abdus Miah, a city alderman and member of the mosque.”We never faced any kind of problem after 9-11.  This is the first time.”

Hudson City Council President Don Moore condemned the vandalism.

“Well I was stunned,” said Moore.  “Because Hudson is a very diverse community and we’re proud of it.”

The police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime. The mosque is more than 100 miles away from the controversial proposed site of a mosque, two blocks from Ground Zero.

 

We’ve reported on what Muslim scholars are calling a rising incidence of anti-mosque protests and vandalism around the country in the past year.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100909/us_yblog_upshot/new-york-mosque-vandalized-with-racial-slur

San Antonio mosque rules out hate crime as root of graffiti incident

kens5.com

Posted on September 6, 2010 at 8:01 PM

SAN ANTONIO — As the anniversary of Sept. 11 approaches, tensions are running high, including here in San Antonio, where a mosque has been targeted several times over the weekend by vandals.

Nadia Ramdass of KENS 5 spoke with the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C., which is not treating the incident as a hate crime due to the non-offensive nature of the graffiti.

They are working with local police and FBI, however, to ensure they’re correct.

Vandals spray painted symbols and letters inside and outside of the mosque, located near the Medical Center in northwest San Antonio on Sunday.

Members of the Islamic Center were already targeted by vandals on Saturday, too. They came out from prayers to find the cars in the parking lot sprayed with graffiti.

Members of the mosque believe the incidents could be gang related.

So far, local law enforcement has no leads.

http://www.kens5.com/news/local/San-Antonio-mosque-rules-out-hate-crime-as-root-of-graffiti-incident-102310749.html

by Nadia Ramdass / KENS 5

Hate Crime Arraignment Follows Alleged Harassment

Aug 31, 2010

Waterport/Carlton, NY -  A group of worshippers at a mosque in Waterport say they’ve been targets of violence over the last several days.

They gave statements to authorities Tuesday morning. 

Now, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office confirms that at least one person will be arraigned in the Town of Colton for a hate crime — disrupting a religious service, and shooting a gun.

According to Jacob Zimmerman, member of the World Sufi Foundation, Monday night during evening prayers, cars drove by the mosque with people yelling obscenities and squealing tires—and gunshots were fired.

Zimmerman said when the 11 p.m. services ended, his friend David Bell heard something and ran to the bottom of the hill where a black SUV which had been harassing mosque members over recent days injured Bell in the hip and the mouth.

“It’s been going on for years,” Zimmerman said, “It’s never been taken seriously. It takes the police at least a half hour to get down here”.

Mosque members have just begun observing the holy month of Ramadan which is the ninth month of the Islamic year, observed as sacred with fasting and practiced daily from dawn to sunset.

http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/Hate-Crime-Arraignment-Follows-Alleged-Harassment/sYCVTQdg0k2S5qhOQhLfeA.cspx?rss=102

Sacramento Area Mosque Targeted With Toxic Pig

Ben Deci FOX40 News

August 29, 2010

Sacramento, CA - An area mosque has been drawn into the debate over a religious center near ground zero in New York City. A plastic pig was put in that mosque’s mailbox, toxic messages were scribbled across it.

Islamic leadership in our area isn’t saying exactly where that mosque is, for fear that they could be targeted further.

“No Mosque in NYC,” “Remember 9-11,” and “Mo-Ham-ed” were the messages on the mosque. The pig is intended to be particularly offensive because followers of Islam are prohibited from eating pork.

“The atmosphere of Islam-a-phobia right now I would say is worse than after 9-11,” said Basim Elkarra, head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in the Sacramento Valley. “We have this orchestrated campaign against the community.”

Elkarra is calling for the pig incident to be investigated as a hate crime. It’s similar, he says, to the vandalism of a Mosque in Madera, California earlier this week. Still, many Muslims in his community were against going to police and the public about the pig.

Why?

“Especially some of the immigrants- they’re much more concerned about what’s happening. And they don’t want to make it public,” Elkarra said.

But he says that the community needs to be open about message of hate like the ones scrawled across the pig. He says that’s best way to be certain that bigotry doesn’t dominate the discussion about the project in New York.

“There are people that are sincere about not wanting the Mosque to be built there,” said Elkarra. “Unfortunately, many of the groups who are working on this issue are Islam-a-phobic and are just using it. Also unfortunately there are elected officials that are using the issue to get votes.”

http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-news-sacramentomosquetargetedwithtoxicpig,0,5633306.story?track=rss

Updated: 14:14, Monday August 23, 2010

A man who pleaded guilty to firing shots at a mosque in Perth has been ordered to pay more than $9,000 in reparation and criminal damage costs.

Bradley Neil Trappitt and three accomplices, who are allegedly part of a race hate group called Combat 18, fired three shots at the dome of the Suleymaniye Mosque in Queens Park in Perth’s south on February 4.

The court heard they were drunk at the time.

Trappitt was charged with wilfully damaging property, possessing an unlicensed firearm and unlawfully discharging a firearm from across the road.

In the Perth Magistrates Court on Monday, the 25-year-old was fined $5,000 for criminal damage, $3,750 for his part in the reparation costs for the mosque, $1,000 for the two firearm offences and $62.60 in court costs.

Magistrate Steven Heath said the fine needed to be a ‘substantial one to reflect the seriousness’ of the crime.

He said Trappitt’s involvement could be distinguished from his co-accused as a ‘lesser role’ and accepted that he co-operated when he was questioned.

But he said it was still a ‘foolish decision’ to participate in the crime.

Trappitt’s lawyer Curt Hofmann said his client drove the car to the mosque but never got out of the vehicle.

He said Trappitt was trying to show ‘bravado’ among his friends and was acting out of ‘stupidity’.

Outside court, Trappitt remained tight-lipped, flanked by two burly minders.

One of Trappitt’s co-accused, Jacob Marshall Holt, 24, previously pleaded guilty on similar charges and was given a seven-month jail sentence suspended for 12 months.

Originally based in the United Kingdom, Combat 18 has chapters across the world and is based on the ideas of neo-Nazism and white supremacy.

The number 18 is derived from the initials of Adolf Hitler, with A and H being the first and eighth letters of the alphabet.

http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=503497&articleID=

Ground Zero Controversy Fueled Attacks on Texas Mosque, Islamic Center President Says

National Interest

Ground Zero Controversy Fueled Attacks on Texas Mosque, Islamic Center President Says

By Diane Macedo

Published August 09, 2010

| FoxNews.com

The president of an Islamic Center in Texas says backlash against the proposed mosque at Ground Zero has made its way over to the Lone Star State and is manifesting itself in acts of hatred against his congregation.

Jamal Qaddura, president of the Dar El-Eman Islamic Center in Arlington, says it started with a disturbing act of vandalism.

“On a Friday, early morning, somebody came and sprayed extremely obscene graffiti in the parking lot. It’s a huge graffiti drawing of Uncle Sam having sex with God, with Allah,” Qaddura told FoxNews.com.

That same weekend, Qaddura said, somebody tried to burn down the mosque by cutting old gas lines and, when they were unsuccessful, went after the playground instead.

“They cut them trying to ignite a fire, and nothing happened because we don’t have gas in the building. We have cut off the gas, so instead they set fire to the playground, which is surrounded by trees. And it’s a miracle that only the playground burned and not the trees, otherwise it would have been a huge disaster — not just for the mosque, but for the surrounding area, all the neighborhoods and apartment complexes surrounding this mosque,” Qaddura said.

Arlington police and fire departments as well as the FBI launched investigations into the incident. But Qaddura said that didn’t stop a man from sneaking onto the property again days later.

“He came in around the same time, after midnight, and there were four guys there in the basketball court in the back … and when they saw each other, he took off and stopped by the entrance, almost 1,000 to 1,500 feet away. And he started cussing them and calling them racial slurs,” he said. “They keep trying. A lot of people are passing by and calling names. It’s just something very despicable.”

The FBI and Arlington Police Department confirmed that they are investigating a July 23 graffiti incident and a July 25 playground fire at the mosque.

Read More: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/09/texas-islamic-center-president-says-vandals-targeting-mosque-ground-zero/

August 3rd, 2010Panel denies landmark status for Islamic center and mosque site near ground zero

From CNN Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff in New York:

New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission denied landmark status Tuesday for a building at the site of a proposed Islamic center and mosque near ground zero.

The commissioners voted unanimously against landmark status for 45-47 Park Place. It and an adjoining building are owned by real estate developer Soho Properties, which intends to build an Islamic center two blocks north of the former site of the World Trade Center.

While the public vote was the focus of much debate about the planned Islamic center and mosque, the commission could not have prevented the developers from building such a community center. The commission, by designating the building a landmark, could only have prevented Soho Properties from demolishing the building or significantly altering its exterior.

There is a prayer site in the building currently, so Muslims are peacefully praying in the building already.

“We will continue going forward with the project. It’s a project that will build bridges,” said Oz Sultan, spokesman for the Cordoba Initiative, the organization behind the planned center. It says the group is “committed to promoting positive interaction between the Muslim world and the West.”

Cordoba opposed landmark status for the five-story building because it would like to build a taller, modern building. “It’s not minarets,” said Sultan, who described a mock-up of the proposed center as consistent with the latest architecture found in New York City.

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and other city leaders support the Islamic center.

Read More: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/03/new-york-panel-votes-down-landmark-status-for-ground-zero-mosque-site/?hpt=T1

Reward posters sit in front of a makeshift tent that will used as a temporary shelter for prayer services at the Masjid Al-Hedaya mosque after the building was destroyed Monday by fire.
Photo by Laura Moon

Man who prayed at mosque charged with arson in blaze.by Kathryn Dobies
kdobies@mdjonline.comJuly 09, 2010 12:00 AM MARIETTA - Marietta Police say a 25-year-old African immigrant who prayed at the Masjid Al-Hedaya mosque in recent weeks has been charged with setting the fire that destroyed the it earlier this week.

Tamsir Lucien Mendy, 25, was arrested at Marietta Fire headquarters at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Scott Tucker, assistant fire chief, announced at a news conference Thursday morning.

“We do know that he acted alone,” Tucker said at the media gathering, which was also conducted at fire headquarters. “Why he did it was something that only he knows. We’ve got some information as to how he did it, but the exact motive is unclear. We know that it wasn’t somebody from the outside that was interested in a hate crime type of situation, because he describes himself as being a very devout Muslim.”

The mosque burned about 11:30 p.m. Monday, shortly after a nightly prayer service had ended. Tucker said Mendy was seen at the mosque that evening. The building sustained extensive water damage, but the roof did not collapse, Mayor Steve Tumlin said.

Tucker said “a great deal of physical evidence” links Mendy to the fire, but he declined to elaborate.

Mendy is being held without bond at the Cobb County Jail on a single count of felony first-degree arson. Federal immigration authorities have put a hold on his release. His book-in sheet also lists a hold by Smyrna Police for a traffic case.


Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - News, Sports, Classifieds, Businesses in Marietta, GA

The Masjid Al-Hedaya on Powder Springs Street in Marietta caught fire after members of the mosque left late Monday night. The fire was extinguished quickly, but the prayer hall was damaged.
Photo by Laura Moon

Arsonist targets mosque by Kathryn Dobies
kdobies@mdjonline.comJuly 07, 2010 12:00 AM

MARIETTA - Marietta investigators say a Monday night fire that damaged a mosque on Powder Springs Street was intentionally set.

Marietta Assistant Fire Chief Scott Tucker said a prayer service ended about a half hour before flames engulfed the building around 11:30 p.m. The fire damaged the prayer hall of the Islamic Center of Marietta, Masjid Al-Hedaya, but no one was injured, Tucker said. On Tuesday afternoon, investigators were interviewing people who were at the mosque Monday night before the fire started.

Tucker said there was evidence of forced entry into the mosque and that the fire had been set from the inside. State arson investigators also inspected the scene on Tuesday afternoon and found evidence of a substance used to ignite or accelerate the fire, although they could not confirm what the substance was.

“We will continue to talk to as many people necessary,” Tucker said. “Our goal is to find out who set the fire and we believe that somebody who attends this mosque is going to have that information … There are five prayer services per day here. There’s a lot of people connected with this mosque and we’re hoping to talk to everyone that has been here recently.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has also called for the FBI to investigate a possible biased motive for the fire.

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for CAIR, said the call for an FBI investigation came from the fact that there have been several recent incidents around the country of crime targeted at mosques.


Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - News, Sports, Classifieds, Businesses in Marietta, GA