Source: Portland Press Herald
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/060721lewiston.shtml
On July 21, 2006 Portland Press Herald reported, "A second legal complaint filed against the man accused of rolling a frozen pig's head into a Lewiston mosque is raising the question: Will there be a third?
Thursday's decision by the Maine Attorney General's Office to prosecute Brent Matthews of Lewiston on civil rights violations has mosque members hoping that the federal government will follow.
Local prosecutors at the Androscoggin District Attorney's Office first charged Matthews, 33, with the misdemeanor crime of desecrating a place of worship.
The state, in its civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Superior Court in Auburn, claims Matthews broke the law because his alleged action targeted Somali and Muslim residents and was motivated by bias based on 'race, color, ancestry, national origin and religion.'
The complaint pointed out that Matthews has admitted rolling the pig's head into the mosque on July 3, calling it a joke. It also said Matthews has demonstrated anti-Somali bias. He displayed an anti-immigrant bumper sticker on his car, according to the Maine Attorney General's Office, although Matthews' lawyer disputes that.
Federal hate crime prosecutions in Maine are rare, but Abdi Sheikh was hopeful that an FBI investigation into the mosque incident would lead the U.S. Attorney in Portland to press charges... Matthews has pleaded not guilty to the desecration charge. He faces up to a year in jail if found guilty of that charge and up to $5,000 in fines if he is convicted in the state's civil lawsuit.
In addition to the fines, the state is asking the court to permanently bar Matthews from having contact with the mosque, and to require him to obey the Maine Civil Rights Act.
If Matthews were to subsequently violate the civil rights act, he could be charged with violating the injunction, which is a crime punishable by up to a year in jail."