-----
FBI
INVESTIGATING VANDALISM AT GEORGIA MOSQUE
- Shaka S. Lias The Daily Tribune News, 4/15/11
Members of the Muslim community are
concerned that their place of worship has been the target of
an apparent hate crime for the second time in less than a
month.
[NOTE:
The three perpetrators spray painted
"F--k Sand N-----s,"
across the back of the msoque.]
The Islamic Center of Cartersville was
vandalized earlier this week, according to a Bartow County
Sheriff's Department incident report. Deputies were
dispatched to 71 Maple Ridge Drive Tuesday morning shortly
after Bilal Mahmood reported the damages.
Mahmood told the deputy he was the last
person at the center Monday night and everything was intact.
When he returned Tuesday at 6:30, he saw
three front glass entrance doors with large holes in them.
He also saw one window pane on the front of the building
with a large hole.
"Bilal allowed me to enter
into the building where I retrieved four large rocks that
were used to damage the window and doors," the deputy wrote
in the report.
Amjad Tausique worships at the mosque
and helped start that location; he said he's very concerned.
"We've been working and reaching out in
the community for a long time," he said. Tausique said
Muslims have been in the city for close to 40 years.
"We are tax-paying, peaceful,
law-abiding citizens," he said. "It's totally not right for
someone to come and destroy the place of worship."
The center was also vandalized in March,
and BCSO investigator Jonathan Rogers said the Federal
Bureau of Investigation is handling the case and have leads.
Besides the damages to the door
and windows, Tausique said nothing was stolen. During the
last vandalism, a stink bomb was thrown into the building,
which Tausique said smelled for days.
----------------------------------
FBI investigating vandalism at mosque
by
Shaka S. Lias
The Daily Tribune News
The Daily Tribune News, April 15, 2011
The Islamic Center of
Cartersville near Merchants
Square was vandalized Monday
night when several glass
doors were shattered. This
is the second time in about
three weeks the center has
been vandalized. SKIP
BUTLER/The Daily Tribune
News
slideshow
Members of the Muslim
community are concerned that their place of
worship has been the target of an apparent hate
crime for the second time in less than a month.
The Islamic Center of Cartersville was
vandalized earlier this week, according to a
Bartow County Sheriff's Department incident
report. Deputies were dispatched to 71 Maple
Ridge Drive Tuesday morning shortly after Bilal
Mahmood reported the damages.
Mahmood
told the deputy he was the last person at the
center Monday night and everything was intact.
When he returned Tuesday at 6:30, he saw
three front glass entrance doors with large
holes in them. He also saw one window pane on
the front of the building with a large hole.
"Bilal allowed me to enter into the building
where I retrieved four large rocks that were
used to damage the window and doors," the deputy
wrote in the report.
Amjad Tausique
worships at the mosque and helped start that
location; he said he's very concerned.
"We've been working and reaching out in the
community for a long time," he said. Tausique
said Muslims have been in the city for close to
40 years.
"We are tax-paying, peaceful,
law-abiding citizens," he said. "It's totally
not right for someone to come and destroy the
place of worship."
The center was also
vandalized in March, and BCSO investigator
Jonathan Rogers said the Federal Bureau of
Investigation is handling the case and have
leads.
Besides the damages to the door
and windows, Tausique said nothing was stolen.
During the last vandalism, a stink bomb was
thrown into the building, which Tausique said
smelled for days.
Meanwhile, security
cameras were installed and an extra patrol in
the area at nights was requested.
Tausique said they just want to be treated like
everyone else in the community. "We have
families like anyone else, kids in school, jobs
and business," he said.
According to
Tausique, the center has a regular feeding
program at a children's shelter in the Emerson
area.
At the Islamic Center there is no
actual membership number, but Tausique there is
a large number that participates in their Friday
Jumu'ah prayer.
"Just because we are
Muslim and we worship one God, doesn't mean
we're not American," Tausique said.
Read more:
The Daily Tribune News - FBI investigating vandalism at
mosque
------------------------------------
SEE ALSO:
HUDSON MOSQUE VANDAL TO BE SENTENCED
- TOP WTEN, 4/12/11
HUDSON, N.Y. - A man who is accused of
vandalizing a Hudson Mosque is set to be sentenced in
Columbia County Court Tuesday.
21-year-old Roy Francis is accused of
spray-painting a Hudson Islamic Center last September.
Francis is the last of the vandals
to be sentenced. Two other men, James Glover and Christopher
Osborn, have already been sentenced in connection with the
vandalism. Osborne was given 6 months in jail and 5
years probation. Glover was sentenced to 60 days in jail and
3 years probation.
http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?S=14431898
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