Members of the Islamic Center of Davis welcomed a steady stream of supporters this week in the wake of an act of vandalism that Davis police are investigating as a hate crime.

“It’s just phenomenal,” Hamza El-Nakhal, former president of the Islamic Center, said of the flower bouquets, cards and financial contributions that had been dropped off at the Russell Boulevard mosque since news broke of the Sunday morning incident.

As of Tuesday afternoon, a crowdfunding effort on launchgood.com had raised raised more than $20,000 toward repairing the vandalism — well beyond the $9,000 initially requested. Surplus funds will be used to upgrade the facility’s security system “to ensure we have the ability to prevent an incident like this from happening in the future,” organizers said.

A community gathering in response to the crime is planned for Friday, starting at 1:30 p.m. with a march from Central Park to the Islamic Center, 539 Russell Blvd., followed by a welcome reception “to express our love and appreciation to the community for the overwhelming support and solidarity,” El-Nakhal said.

Meanwhile, two Davis police detectives have been assigned to the case in hopes of identifying the suspect, who remained at large as of Tuesday evening. Police released surveillance video that showed a woman smashing windows, damaging bikes and and draping an exterior door handle with bacon — significant because pork products are forbidden in the Muslim religion.

“Officers found that an unidentified suspect had used an unknown type device to shatter six window panes on the building exterior,” causing an estimated $5,000 in damage, Lt. Tom Waltz said in a news release.

The vandalism occurred between 3:45 and 4 a.m. Sunday.

Police described the suspect as a white female between 25 and 35 years old, 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-8 and 160 to 180 pounds, with red or brown wavy hair. She was seen wearing beige hightop shoes, gray or blue tight-fitting pants, an off-white vest, an unknown color shirt with an unknown logo, and a black hat with an unknown logo.

Another anti-Muslim act, apparently unrelated, occurred in Davis on Monday evening. According to police reports, a person walking on N Street saw a man walk up to a residence and crumple up a yard sign that said “Muslims are welcome in this neighborhood.”

When the person confronted the man, “he said Muslims are not welcome in this neighborhood,” the report says. The man, who was unfamiliar to residents, was described as a heavy-set white male between 45 and 60 with a bald or shaved head, wearing a brown coat and jeans.

The Davis Police Department has established a special tip line for detectives to gather information regarding the hate-crime investigation. The number is 530-747-5460.

‘Act of a coward’

Community leaders were swift in denouncing Sunday’s crime.

” ‘Condemning’ this act simply does not communicate our true feelings. First, this is the act of a coward. We should all feel pity for a person so emotionally stunted that she stoops to this act,” Davis Mayor Robb Davis wrote on his Facebook page Sunday.

“Second, our Muslim brothers and sisters are part of the fabric of our community and we will never abandon them — ever. And third, let us all take the time to reaffirm, in any way we can, our commitment to inclusion and support of all members of our community.”

“The damage is harmful to our entire community. That’s a beautiful place of worship,” said Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor of Davis, who surveyed the damage Monday morning. “It hurts everyone in our community that this kind of cowardly act could take place.”

Davis Islamic Center leaders say they hope someone will come forward with information about the suspect, whose motivations they believe are fueled by fear and the current divisive political climate.

“If she could come and talk to us, we would listen to her and be able to answer her questions,” El-Nakhal said. “We’re American, so it doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t know why this happened.”

“It’s lack of knowledge that has drawn her to do this — that’s how I look at it,” added Mohamed Kheiter, treasurer of the center’s executive board.

Campus heals

Friday’s show of solidarity also is expected to extend to the UC Davis campus, where members of the Muslim Student Association plan to establish a healing space with counselors “for people to express how they feel about what happened,” MSA President Masood Mawlavizada said.

Nida Ahmed, the student group’s internal vice president, called the vandalism “heartbreaking.”

“We generally consider this a very safe community, a welcoming community,” Ahmed said while visiting the Islamic Center on Monday. “I think being here this morning and seeing the flowers being brought in, it’s so overwhelmingly beautiful.”

The supporters came from a variety of religious backgrounds, including Gil Medovoy, a member of the Jewish community, who offered his services guarding the mosque property at night.

“I hate the sense that people feel empowered because of the new (presidential) administration, expressing their fear and hatred in a way that betrays all of us who want a safe community,” Medovoy said. “It just creates tension that is not helpful for anyone.”

Earlier threat

The incident comes less than two months after the Davis Islamic Center — along with other Islamic Centers across the nation — received identical handwritten notes threatening genocide on American Muslims.

“There’s a new sheriff in town — President Donald Trump … He’s going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews,” said the letter, signed by “Americans for a Better Way.” Davis police classified it as a hate incident.

It prompted more than a dozen law-enforcement officials and other community leaders to gather and issue a joint statement denouncing the letter and pledging to fully investigate hate crimes in Yolo County.

“For those who commit crimes, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will ask the district attorney to vigorously prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said. “You are not welcome in Davis if you spread hate.”

“We’re encouraging people to say something, if they see something,” added District Attorney Jeff Reisig. “Report it. We will act.”

— Reach Lauren Keene at [email protected] or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene

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Two organizations have offered $1,000 rewards for information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of the Davis Islamic Center hate crime suspect.

One reward is from the Davis Hate Crime Reward Fund, which was created about 15 years ago with contributions from Davis residents when there was a rise of anti-Muslim incidents in an East Davis residential area.

The fund currently is held by the Davis Asians for Racial Equality, founded in response to crimes during the early 1980s, including the 1982 racially motivated stabbing death of Davis High School student Thong Hy Huynh and the deaths of a Chinese scholar and a Taiwanese foreign student.

Another reward is being offered by the Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV).

“We ask state law enforcement authorities and the FBI to investigate the apparent bias motive for this vandalism and to bring the perpetrator to justice,” CAIR-SV Executive Director Basim Elkarra said. “The swift apprehension and punishment of those responsible for this act of religious intimidation will send the message that the growing Islamophobia we are witnessing in our nation will not be tolerated or ignored.”