Cassa Niedringhaus

cniedringhaus@coloradoan.com

UPDATE 3/28: The suspect in the case has admitted to vandalizing the mosque.

UPDATE 3/27: Police investigate Islamic Center vandalism as possible hate crime

About 1,000 Fort Collins community members gathered outside the Islamic Center of Fort Collins on Sunday evening to show solidarity after a vandal targeted the Muslim house of worship earlier in the day.

"No matter where you are from, we're glad you're our neighbor," was the overarching message on signs held by people of all faiths in the crowd. Attendees cheered as Sen. John Kefalas and President of the Islamic Center Tawfik AboEllail read the same in Spanish and Arabic.

The damage at the Islamic Center was first discovered when people arrived for the first prayer of the day about 5:30 a.m., AboEllail said.

Several large rocks were thrown through glass doors and into the prayer room, and a Bible was thrown through the broken glass. Outdoor furniture was overturned and the legs of a chair were jammed into the handles of one of the center's outer doors.

AboEllail said he reviewed the center’s security footage and identified a man he estimated to be in his mid-20s. The man tried to break into the center using a screwdriver and then increasingly large rocks, he said. The man threw several rocks through the glass with such force that they left scuff marks on the wood paneling on the opposite side of the prayer room.

"Anything he could get a hold of, he wanted to damage," AboEllail said. "Thank god he didn't burn the building down."



The Islamic Center, located at Shields and Lake streets, opened in 2013, though the community predates the building.

The incident comes in the wake of acts of vandalism at mosques around the country in recent months — including incidents of arson that damaged a mosque in Florida and destroyed another in Texas. After Sunday's vandalism, the Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement in which it called for authorities to investigate the incident as a hate crime.

Fort Collins police officer Dustin Wier said the department has assigned a detective to the investigation, which is ongoing. The incident has not been identified as a bias-motivated crime, though Wier said nothing is ruled out.

AboEllail said he was disappointed with what he described as a “lukewarm” response by Fort Collins Police Services to the incident. The call for the vandalism came in about 5:40 a.m., but AboEllail said FCPS responded after 7 a.m.

Fort Collins Chief of Police John Hutto condemned the incident on Twitter, calling it “unacceptable” and urging people with information to contact the department. At Sunday night's rally, he said the initial call came in almost two hours after the vandalism occurred and in-progress calls always take priority. The department will look into what other calls came in at the time, he said.

Wier said that a multitude of factors affect response time, including officer availability, call traffic and imminence of danger.

More than a dozen people, including faith leaders and state and city representatives, gave speeches at the rally, which was organized by Rabbi Hillel Katzir of Temple Or Hadash after he saw the damage.

“As a Rabbi, I’m particularly sensitive to this,” he said. “An attack on a house of worship, any house of worship, is an attack on all houses of worship. If we let this one go, if we don’t respond, who’s next?”

Less than 24 hours before the vandalism in Fort Collins occurred, the center hosted a “Know Your Rights and Duties” forum for the community. The event featured a panel of community representatives, including Hutto and City Council member Kristen Stephens.

Stephens was emotional Sunday as she spoke to the crowd.

"When I got the call this morning, I was heartbroken, as many of you are," Stephens said. "We don't expect this in our community ... but it's here."

Stephens said witnessing people of other faiths come to support the Islamic Center showed her "love really is more powerful than hate."

Dozens of congregants from the Plymouth Congregational Church, led by senior minister Hal Chorpenning, visited the center after their 11 a.m. service.

AboEllail said the center will have to look into hiring a security agency for tighter surveillance moving forward. A GoFundMe has also been established to cover the costs of the damage, as well as security updates.

Michelle Skeens and T'Hani Holt, both members of the mosque, said they weren't surprised by the vandalism, though they were disappointed.

"There are a lot of people talking about how this is not Fort Collins, this is not our community, but unfortunately it is," Skeens said. She later added, "How can we address that? The biggest way is to start a conversation about it, first and foremost."

She said she hoped the community would continue the momentum from the rally in the future to further discussions about how to be more inclusive.

"We belong here,” AboEllail said. “Please do something about it. Not a year later; we need something now.”

The center postponed the children's Sunday school program so they wouldn't witness the police investigation and the damage and feel that their center isn't welcome in the community, said executive member of the center, Shakir Muhammad. But he said the rally helped to illustrate community support.

"I have two boys; one is age 9, one is age 13," Muhammad said. "I can easily tell them of the (vandalism) happening, but I would tell them more about the turnout we had this afternoon."

After the rally concluded, the crowd formed a human chain around the Islamic Center and joined together in song.

"The person who did this thing, this vandalism, is highly outnumbered and by himself," Muhammad said. "It shows to me that everyone is juxtaposing him against the rest of the town."

Reporter Cassa Niedringhaus covers breaking news for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter: @CassaMN.