On Friday, the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations responded to a vandalized mosque, calling for increased security at mosques. The vandalism is the latest in a string of similar, but seemingly unrelated, acts of crime.
Police officials said that an individual urinated in front of a Willowbrook mosque in Staten Island on Sept. 11 and damaged a pair of wooden shoe racks used during prayer services, reported Silive.
The New York chapter, belonging to the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights group, has since called for improved security measures for local mosques.
“We urge community leaders and law enforcement authorities to step up security at mosques – and at all houses of worship – as we unfortunately witness an increase in bias-motivated rhetoric and actions nationwide,” Afaf Nasher, Esq., the chapter’s executive director, said in a statement.
Earlier in the month, there was also a reported desecration of a Quran in front of the Turkish House that has housed diplomats and a reported attack of a Muslim man in Astoria, N.Y, according to CAIR-NY.
CAIR recommends religious institutions to apply for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program that provides funding for improved security measures to nonprofit organizations.
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