News

Actions

Vandals target Islamic Community Center in PHX

Posted at 12:30 PM, Dec 12, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-12 14:30:03-05

Shattered windows at the Islamic Cultural Center in Phoenix have the Muslim community on high alert.

The vandalism was discovered Thursday morning at the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix, located near the I-17 and Northern Avenue.

The president of the mosque, Usama Sharmi, tells ABC15 a window in an office under construction and another window and spotlight were damaged and broken.  

#CAIR BREAKING NEWS: Islamic Community Center of Phoenix Vandalized

Posted by CAIR on Friday, December 11, 2015

The hate crimes unit was called out, but Phoenix police tell ABC15 they do not believe this is a biased crime- saying they don't believe the mosque was targeted.

But the director of the Center says he fears this is backlash from the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump calling for a halt on Muslims coming into the United States.

Sharmi says whoever did it--shame on them. 

"It makes me sad. I've been a resident of Phoenix for almost 20 years and this is my home. We have a lot of support from the community and it just takes one person like that to poison the atmosphere."

The window is expected to be fixed by next week, but the director says it's caused fear in the community. Some Muslims say they are scared to come and pray since this happened.

As of Saturday, no potential suspect information was available.

RELATED: Threats, harassment, vandalism at mosques reach record high