CHRISTIAN VANDALS SHATTER FRONT DOOR OF MILPITAS MOSQUE

CBS5.com, 5/18/06

http://cbs5.com/localwire/localfsnews/bcn/2006/05/18/n/HeadlineNews/MOSQUE-VANDALISM/resources_bcn_html

Vandals shattered a $350 front door of an Islamic mosque in Milpitas this week but police say so far they have no evidence indicating it was a hate crime.Visitors who came to attend an early morning prayer discovered the smashed glass front door at Masjid Dar Al-Salaam, located at 90 Dempsey Road, around 5 a.m. Tuesday.Milpitas police Detective Peter Prolo said today police found no graffiti, notes or other evidence to suggest the mosque was targeted in a hate crime.Yet, the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is concerned about Bay Area Muslims being singled out in hate crime-related attacks because of such incidents being reported recently across the nation."CAIR attributes these incidents to existing levels of anti-Muslim bias in American society and war-related sentiment,'' the organization wrote in a statement.The perpetrator "did not leave any evidence of intrusion into the mosque but we don't know that it wasn't a hate crime for sure," Mohammad Nada, a board member of the mosque, stated.Prolo said police are investigating a string of recent vandalism incidents at a local Catholic Church. Since Christmas, vandals have thrown rocks through that church's windows three times.Because no rocks were found at the mosque, Prolo said investigators do not believe the crimes are related.No suspects have been identified in any of the vandalism."We have taken additional (security) measures," Prolo said. "We've increased surveillance and heavy patrol in the area around the mosque."Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact the Milpitas Police Department at (408) 942-2400.