Vandalism at Boca Raton Mosque Classified as a Hate Crime

September 15, 2005

Source: Boca Raton News

http://www.bocaratonnews.com/index.php?src=news&prid=12671&category=Local%20News

On September 15, 2005 the Boca Raton News reported, "Aug. 25 and last Monday night – vandals threw large rocks through glass doors of the Assidiq Islamic Education Foundation... On one occasion, someone used red spray paint to plaster '4Baker' on the side of the building. Sayed Mohammad Jawad Qazwini, the imam, or religious leader at the education center, said it was an apparent reference to a speaker whose appearance at an AIEF-sponsored event earlier this year sparked protests from local anti-Muslim extremists. A contingent of law enforcement and interfaith religious leaders gathered at the center Thursday to decry the incident and to call for full prosecution of the perpetrators. Boca Raton Police Chief Andrew Scott said the purpose of the conference was 'to condemn the act of vandalism and to show that these acts, regardless of the person’s faith, will not be tolerated.' Scott said he has contacted the FBI to assist with the investigation."