Brittany Carloni

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization is calling for law enforcement to investigate vandalism of a Muslim prayer space at Marquette University as hate crimes, the group announced this week.

In a news release, the Council on American-Islamic Relations cited reports from Muslim students that the prayer room was vandalized twice: once after the presidential election in November and again after President Donald Trump's travel ban on Muslim-majority countries.

"I was quite upset that we were not informed early on and that the university did not take a very public stand," said Janan Najeeb, president of the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition.

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Marquette spokesman Brian Dorrington said the first incident, which occurred in November, was reported to Marquette police, who investigated but were not able to identify a suspect. The second incident was reported on Jan. 22 through the university's bias incident reporting system. A police report described the damage as graffiti.

Dorrington said Marquette is installing an additional camera to make sure the prayer space is respected.

"We strongly denounce these actions toward our Muslim students. They are counter to our Marquette mission and non-discrimination policy," Dorrington said.

Last month, the Marquette University Academic Senate passed a resolution to condemn violence and hate speech and express support for Muslim students, faculty and staff. In February, the University's Campus Ministry office addressed the incidents in a letter to the campus community.