Police looking for man who vandalized mosque in St. Paul, wrote 'Merry X-Mas' on walls
Messages were scribbled on the wall of the mosque by the man who was caught in the act by a worshiper. (FOX 9)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Police are investigating after a man broke into a St. Paul mosque on Saturday, leaving behind damage and hateful messages.
According to investigators, a worshiper who had come in early to Darul Iman Saturday morning had discovered the man inside the center off McKnight Road. When the worshiper went to get help, the vandal ran off.
Police looking for man who vandalized mosque in St. Paul, wrote ‘Merry X-Mas’ on walls
Police are investigating after a man broke into a St. Paul mosque on Saturday, leaving behind damage and hateful messages.
Police say the suspect broke a door, damaged a wall, and ransacked the imam's office. Along with the damage, officers found derogatory graffiti on the walls of the mosque. Among the incoherent messages, the vandal wrote "Merry Xmas."
"He came here, he ransacked this office and put this sign here," said community advocate Omar Jamal.
The damage is expected to cost several thousand dollars to repair.
In response, police say they will increase patrols in the area and around other mosques. In a statement, the executive director of CAIR-Minnesota, Jaylani Hussein, called for the case to be investigated as a hate crime.
"Because of the religious references in the graffiti and the damage done to the mosque, we urge law enforcement authorities to investigate a possible bias motive for this incident,” said Hussein. “These types of incidents serve to increase safety concerns for the Minnesota Muslim community.”
"They came like 5:30 and found out there was a person actually in the building, they were scared and terrified," added mosque board member Hassan Hade.
"This center has been here for a long time and the people feel safe but today was a different day,” explained Hade. “When we actually figure out the message here, and the vandalism here we don’t feel safe, we feel terrified and intimidated actually.”
The Minnesota Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) points out this is the second issue at a metro mosque in the last month. A northeast Minneapolis mosque was vandalized in November when the door was heavily damaged.
"It’s a lot and it’s also extremely troubling for it all to be in the metro – we anticipate metro mosques to have more visibility on the streets and less likely for vandals and those who attack mosques to do that but this is what we’re seeing,” said Hussein.
CAIR has created a GoFundMe to help the mosque pay for the repairs.