The Council on American Islamic Relations is pushing investigators looking into vandalism at a Columbus-area mosque consider it a hate crime. Ohio Public Radio’s Karen Kasler reports on reaction to the graffiti discovered Friday.
The Columbus chapter of CAIR says surveillance video caught a man vandalizing the Ahlul Bayt Islamic Center on Columbus’ northwest side. CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Roman Iqbal says the man in a car painted with pro-Trump messages scrawled anti-Islamic graffiti on the mosque’s door.
The messages included: "Allah is a fraud."
“It does appear that the vandal was motivated by anti-Muslim animus. So we are calling for this to be investigated as a hate crime.”
The surveillance camera also captured images of the car the man was believed to be driving. Slogans painted on it include: "Oppose Trump You are Doomed!"
Iqbal says since the election, his group has seen an increase in the number of people reporting incidents. The group’s Facebook page notes that people who’ve seen the alleged vandal’s car have found pictures of its license plate.
