FBI searching for Mosque vandals in possible hate crime

OKLAHOMA CITY – The FBI said it is hoping surveillance video will help lead them to a pair of vandals who targeted an Oklahoma City mosque last weekend.

The American Muslim Association on the 3200 block of N.W. 48th St. was damaged when the suspects spray painted racial slurs and other graffiti on the walls.

FBI agents tell us they are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

Authorities admit the surveillance video is not the best quality but they’re hoping someone will recognize the suspects.

The video appears to show two males involved in the crime.

If you have any information on the vandalism, you can call the FBI hotline at (405) 290-7770.

Another disturbing attack in Wisconsin against Sikhs by self-proclaimed “freedom fighters.”

Green Bay man accused of setting fire to store owned by Sikh

by Ashley Luthern (Journal Sentinel)

A 53-year-old man is charged with a hate crime, accused of setting fire to a Green Bay convenience store owned by a Sikh American – seven months after the most deadly U.S. attack on Sikhs in recent memory at an Oak Creek temple.

James Parrish of Green Bay faces charges of arson with a hate crime modification, first-degree recklessly endangering safety and carrying a concealed weapon. Police arrested Parrish shortly after 7 p.m. March 5 at Dollar Land Inc., 1020 N. Irwin Ave., formerly called Beach Road Liquor. He reportedly entered the store, dumped a liquid on the register and set it on fire, according to Green Bay police.

The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund issued a statement Thursday praising the Brown County district attorney’s office and Green Bay police for treating the arson as a hate crime.

“On the seven-month anniversary of the mass shooting at the Gurdwara (Sikh house of worship) in Oak Creek, hate once again raised its head in Wisconsin,” Jasjit Singh, the fund’s executive director, said in a news release.

“We must come together in a spirit of tolerance and community to prevent further acts of hate in Wisconsin and across the nation,” he said.

A criminal complaint says that a store employee said Parrish, smelling of alcohol, came in regularly and on the day of the fire, asked her for a date. After she declined, Parrish then walked around the store looking for balloons before returning to the register and dumping the liquid, which the employee said smelled like gasoline.

Earlier in the day, police had been called to Parrish’s house twice for welfare checks. The first time, a social worker requested the check after Parrish said “he works for the CIA and needs to round up terrorists and torture them.”

The second call was made because Parrish was heard commenting throughout the week that “he is a freedom fighter now and that his mission is to go deal with his issues with Beach Road Liquor and to make their money burn.”

When Parrish was arrested, he told officers that “he cooked the register at Beach Road Liquor to get them the hell out of Wisconsin and commented on how they would not be able to open their business until approximately noon tomorrow, giving them time to get the hell out,” the complaint states. Parrish’s next court date is April 5.

On Aug. 5, seven months before Parrish’s alleged arson attack, a white supremacist opened fire at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, killing six and wounding four before he was wounded by a police officer and then killed himself.

More than 20 million people worldwide follow the Sikh religion, established about 500 years ago in the Punjab region of India, and about 3,000 Sikh families live in southeastern Wisconsin. Sikhs have often been mistaken for Muslims and targeted in hate crimes.

Hoboken man charged with bias intimidation and robbery of cabbie

By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal 

Bail was set at $20,000 cash or bond yesterday for a Hoboken man charged with bias intimidation and robbery in an incident in which he allegedly called a cabbie a terrorist and knocked off his turban.

Thomas A. Arevalo, 29, of Church Towers, is also charged with harassment in the incident outside Church Towers on Dec. 15 at 12:54 p.m.

Arevalo’s lawyer, John McGovern of Newark, said the allegations are untrue.

The victim told police that during the trip to Church Towers, Arevalo repeatedly asked him if he was Muslim and he said he was not, but finally said he was a Muslim to end the conversation, the report says. That’s when Arevalo said “You’re a f– terrorist,” the report says.

At Church Towers, the cabbie told Arevalo the fare, which originated in New York, was $73 and Arevalo handed him a crumpled ball of money containing $25, the report says. The driver got out to stop Arevalo from entering the building and told police Arevalo knocked off his turban and repeatedly punched him, cutting his nose, the report says.

McGovern said his client and a woman, as well as two other fares, took the cab from New York and agreed to pay a total of $60, with Arevalo and his friend paying a $20 share.

McGovern said that after dropping off the two other passengers, the cabbie demanded $73 from Arevalo, adding that Arevalo gave him $25. and they scuffled.

“Two months later (the cabbie) went to police,” McGovern said. “He is looking for money and I think it’s outrageous that Hoboken police would entertain the matter without hearing both sides of the story.”

(h/t:BBoyBlue)

Feds looking into Port Orange shooting as possible hate crime

By Lyda Longa

This same mosque was vandalized a few years ago with the words: “Muslims Go home”

Nashville mosque vandalized for second time

NASHVILLE (AP) – A Nashville mosque has been vandalized overnight.

Police told WTVF-TV that the windows were broken out at the Al-Farooq Mosque at around 3:30 a.m. Monday. Two funeral cars in the parking lot also had their windshields broken.

Mosque member Hassam Mohamed told the station a man went through a window to get inside and demolished property there.

A taxi-cab driver who was driving by told members he saw the man trying to get into a vehicle in the parking lot. The man then ran off, wearing only boxer shorts.

The same mosque was vandalized three years ago when someone spray-painted the words “Muslims Go Home” on the building. A profanity-laced note was left behind. No arrests were ever made in what authorities called a hate crime.

Related:

-Islamic Center in South Nashville Vandalized, Suspect Captured

I guess Muslims are supposed to melt at the mere presence of bacon.

Three in court after ‘bacon thrown at Central Mosque’

(Scotsman.com)

TWO men and a woman have appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after bacon was allegedly thrown at and stuck to the Central Mosque.

Douglas Cruikshank, 37, Chelsea Lambie, 17, and Wayne Stilwel, 24, were charged with a racially prejudiced offence.

All three, who are from the Lothian and Borders area, made a brief appearance, separately in private, before Sheriff James Scott today.

No plea or declaration was made on their behalf and their cases were continued for further inquiry.

All were released on bail with the special condition that they do not go within 100 metres of any mosque.

It is alleged the Central Mosque, in Potterrow, had bacon thrown at it and stuck to certain parts of the building on January 31.

Oklahoma City Muslim family members think they were targeted because of their faith

Attacks on mosques and Muslims in Australia isn’t anything new, it has been a regular feature of the loon landscape.

(News.com.au)

Whyalla’s Muslim community has been praying outside in stifling temperatures above 40C after fires damaged their mosque.

The fires, which started about 4am on Thursday, are being treated as suspicious. A spokesman for the community, Hasan Aziz, said he believes the attack was a “hate crime”.

“The way it’s been carried out tells us that it’s a targeted crime, a hate crime,” he said. “In a town like Whyalla, of all the places, it’s very unlikely for such an act to be carried out. There’s been no problems in the past.”

The blaze caused smoke damage inside the Morris Crescent mosque after fires were lit at the front and back door of the property. “The front and the back doors have been burnt totally,” Mr Aziz said. “They put petrol on both of them and they lit it on fire.”

Mr Aziz said that the community, which meets twice a day at the mosque, has been forced to pray outside in searing temperatures. “It’s pretty bad. We can’t carry out any of the prayers, so we’ve had to do it outside,” he said.

The building was insured. A police spokesman said the fire caused minimal damage but appeared to be suspicious. Local Crime Investigation Branch detectives are investigating.

If Randy Linn only knew that the way to avenge US troops is not to burn down a mosque but to hold accountable the criminals who sent them into an illegal war. (h/t:MrIslamAnswersBack)

Former Marine: I burned Ohio mosque to avenge US troops

by John Sewer

TOLEDO, Ohio — A former Marine from Indiana admitted Wednesday that he broke into a mosque in Ohio and set fire to a prayer rug because he wanted revenge for the killings of American troops overseas.

Randy Linn pleaded guilty to hate crime charges, saying he’d become enraged after seeing images of wounded soldiers in the news.

“Every day you turn on the TV, you see Muslims trying to kill Americans,” said Linn, a truck driver from St. Joe.

When asked by a federal judge whether he thought all Muslims are terrorists, he answered: “I’d say most of them are.”

A deal between prosecutors and Linn, 52, calls for him to be sentenced to 20 years next April. He pleaded guilty to intentionally damaging and destroying religious property and two gun-related charges.

U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary told Linn that his acts were an attack on all places of religion and that the mosque was a symbol of peace.

“You are no better than the terrorists or extremists you sought to punish,” Zouhary said.

Prosecutors said Linn drove about two hours from his home to suburban Toledo on Sept. 30 and broke into the mosque where he poured gasoline on the rug and lit it on fire.

He estimated that he had drunk 45 beers over several hours before he decided to drive to Ohio.

Linn had several firearms in his car and carried a gun into the mosque, which was empty at the time.

U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach said it was fortunate no one was there. “This is a man who had intolerance in his heart and acted with hate,” he said. “We can count ourselves lucky.”

Linn said he went room by room to make sure no one was in the building. “I was drinking a beer while I was doing that,” he said.

A sprinkler system extinguished the blaze, leaving smoke and water damage in the prayer room of the facility, whose golden dome is a landmark along Interstate 75. No one was hurt.

Members of the Islamic center have been unable to use the building and expect repairs to be finished by the end of March.

Dr. Mahjabeen Islam, president of the Islamic Center, said its members been overwhelmed by support from the community and churches. But she was saddened by Linn’s statements in court.

“It was heart-wrenching to hear him speak because the ignorance and intolerance is still palpable,” she said. “This is an individual who knows nothing about Islam.”

A woman who knows Linn had identified him in publicized surveillance images and contacted authorities, according to a court affidavit.

The woman told law enforcement officers that Linn had made comments complaining about the deaths of U.S. military members in the Middle East, recent attacks on U.S. embassies and Muslims’ angry reactions to an anti-Islam video posted online.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ava Dustin said Linn told his son two weeks before the fire that he wanted to burn down the mosque.

Linn said he started to have second thoughts when he drove home. “Coming back, I thought, `What in the heck did I do?’”

“I feel bad I did it,” he said. “It’s a little too late now.”

Also see:

-Mosque Arsonist Tells Judge: “I Only Know What I Hear On Fox News”

Houston: Dead pig left in front of mosque