 Print
Cops seek suspect after Markaz-Ul-Islam Mosque damaged
6-30-2015
An act of vandalism against the Markaz-Ul-Islam mosque last week has community members wondering if the destruction was a targeted act.
According to the RCMP, a glass door for the female entrance to the downtown mosque was shattered sometime between 12:00 a.m. and 3:45 a.m. on June 16. Police released details on about the incident on Tuesday.
One community leader with the mosque, Wajeehullah Arain, fears the vandalism was a targeted hit against their place of worship.
“Seeing the fact that [the damage] is at multiple places, one would assume that it is,” said the mosque’s vice-president of community affairs.
Police say their investigation has so far revealed no indication the vandals specifically targeted the mosque, but it is an angle they will investigate.
According to Cpl. George Cameron, spokesperson for the Wood Buffalo RCMP, investigators retrieved metal BBs at the site. Police believe the BBs were thrown into the glass door, but don’t know whether they were shot from a BB gun or some other device, such as a slingshot.
Arain says mosque-goers were saddened and surprised at the incident, which he called “un-Fort McMurray like.”
“It’s something that we’ve not seen in Fort McMurray,” he explained. “I think that this community is one of the best places in Canada. People are really together.”
“(This) alerts people that there are individuals who like to cause mischief, who have hate in them, and it’s important that all of us recognize it,” he said. “As leaders we’re all making noise that it should remain an individual incident and we should never see anything like this again.”
The act drew widespread condemnation on Tuesday, after police released details of the incident and asked for public help in finding any potential suspects.
Wood Buffalo’s Collaboration for Religious Inclusion, made up of six faith groups, called the incident a “senseless attack” that was not representative of the region.
“All of us are connected as members of the human family, as part of the life system of this planet and what affects one of us affects all,” it wrote in a release.
Fort McMurray-Athabasca MP David Yurdiga also condemmed the attack, and said he had no doubt that Fort McMurray would rally together.
“Something very similar happened to a mosque in Cold Lake, where it was also vandalized, and the community got together in Cold Lake from all walks of life and helped to remedy the situation,” he said. “I’m sure the good citizens of Fort McMurray will do the same.”
Liberal candidate Kyle Harrietha, in a statement, called the vandalisim a “disturbing and offensive act.”
“Fort McMurray is an open and welcoming community that must always remain a place where citizens of all faiths can worship without fear and apprehension.”
garrett.barry@sunmedia.ca
Footnotes:
|