Texas Mosque Targeted by Hate
The Austin American-Statesman reports that leaders of the Islamic Center of Pflugerville discovered the vandalism Monday.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations decried the vandalism in Texas, which it said was one of several incidents targeting Muslims in the U.S. in recent days.
In a statement, the group encouraged state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate the vandalism as a hate crime.
When officers arrived, a member of the center told police that someone had torn apart a Quran at the front entrance of the mosque.
The man says he discovered the mess when he arrived for Morning Prayer around 5:55 a.m. Monday morning. He says he did not know of anyone making any threats toward the center, and the last time anyone was there was on Sunday night around 10:00 p.m.
The Austin Police Department said Monday it had increased patrols around "sensitive sites."
In Canada, police are still searching for suspects in a Saturday night fire and say it is unclear if it was connected to the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris the previous day. But Police Chief Murray Rodd said that an injury to one of the city's ethnic communities is "an injury to us all."
Police said Monday they are treating a fire that was deliberately set at an Ontario mosque as a hate crime.
Source: CBSNews
