Miranda Mosque vandalized

LA MIRADA MOSQUE IS VANDALIZED - TOP Police say property damage not a hate crime.Bethania Palma, Press-Telegram
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_4181937
When the Muslim Community Services Inc. mosque on the 15000 block of Imperial Highway was attacked by vandals Thursday night, mosque president Rezuar Rahman wasn't too worried.But when he arrived Monday morning and discovered the mosque had been struck a second time, he began to feel uneasy."This morning, when we went there, everyone felt like someone is trying to scare us out of this place," he said.Rahman pointed out two windows and a glass door that were destroyed. All three had Muslim symbols, such as a crescent and minaret, as well as the mosque's logo.The windows were shattered by BB gun pellets on Thursday night; the glass door was destroyed, also by BB pellets, early Monday morning.Rahman believes whoever shot out the windows and door intentionally targeted the mosque.Sheriff's officials, however, think the attacks were random - part of a spate of BB gun shootings that, besides the mosque, have targeted about seven vehicle and business windows since last Thursday. . .Laura Eimiller, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles branch of the FBI, said that the bureau is staying abreast of the sheriff's investigation."Once individual suspects are determined, we will follow up to determine whether or not the mosque was targeted and whether hate factored into the attack," she said. "Any time a house of worship is attacked, it's going to raise our concern."Munira Syeda, communications coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Southern California chapter, said that the La Mirada mosque has been hit by bigotry in the past."That mosque has a history - they've received hate messages in the past," she said, adding that CAIR plans to contact the FBI to urge them to investigate the incidents as hate crimes."The Muslim American community is extremely scared of a possible backlash," she said. "Their sense of security has been lost and it will take time to get it back.