Winnipeg Mosque Finds Healing in Friday Congregation after Attack

IQNA – For the worshippers who filed into the mosque on Friday, the boarded-up window was a jarring reminder of the violence that erupted just 48 hours earlier.

Members of Winnipeg's Muslim community say Friday prayers helped to unite people and ease some tension after a Wednesday night attack damaged a mosque and left some shaken.

The Winnipeg police service's hate crimes unit is still investigating the incident at the Rahma Islamic Centre at 574 Watt St. as a suspected hate crime, police said in a Friday update.

Police say shooters likely used an airsoft or pellet gun to strike the building. They are also looking into a separate report of damaged windows at a nearby home in the 600 block of Roberta Avenue, between Golspie and Raleigh streets near Anderson Park.

That incident reportedly happened around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday. Police believe the windows of the Roberta Avenue home were also damaged by an airsoft or pellet-style gun.

Video from neighbor Matthew Barbe's doorbell camera, obtained by CBC News, shows two people approaching the center late Wednesday night.

Shortly after, the sound of breaking glass can be heard.

Police previously said patrolling officers spotted freshly broken windows at the mosque around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The same night, two people on foot attacked the building's walls with what appeared to be a blunt object, breaking glass.

'No fear'

Investigators are now trying to determine if the mosque attack and the damaged windows at the Roberta Avenue home are connected due to the proximity and time frame, police said.

After hearing about the incident, Yaser Al Mtawa says he attended the Friday prayer at the Chalmers Community Centre, over a dozen blocks away from the Rahma Islamic Centre.

"It was shocking," he told CBC News. "But this incident will make us ... stronger. No fear will sneak through the cracks."

Police say they intend to increase patrols around the Rahma Islamic Centre, as well as other mosques in the area.

Tasneem Vali, a member of Winnipeg's Muslim community, says the patrols will help people feel safe.

"I'm not sure what other security would be needed because that might cause more concern than the feeling of safety," she said Friday.

The Friday prayer helped ease some tension, Vali said.

"We're being told we're safe, everything is taken care of, so people are feeling better," she said. "But again, they are concerned for their children more than anything else."

While Vali says she was shaken and saddened by the incident, she's not surprised after the dismantling of Canada's Office of the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia earlier this year.

"I think that should be reinstated," she said.

Vali's message to Canadians is to speak up against Islamophobia, educate themselves about the Muslim community and to not make assumptions about people in their communities.

"When you learn that you have somebody who is a little bit different than you running for public office or serving in your community, get to know them," she said.

Police are asking anyone with information about the incidents to call the major crimes unit at 204-986-6219. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers by phone at 204-786-8477 (TIPS) or online.

Source: Cbc.ca