Federal authorities are offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the person responsible for setting a mosque in Joplin, Missouri earlier this month.
Category Archives: Anti-Muslim violence
Youth who joined EDL attack on Redbridge Islamic Centre fails to get sentence reduced
A 15-year-old boy locked up after a racist mob attack on Redbridge Islamic Centre, has failed to convince judges he was too harshly punished.
The youth, who cannot be named because of he is age, was among a throng which massed outside the mosque in Eastern Avenue, Redbridge, in March last year, London’s Appeal Court heard, engaging in “racist chanting and seeking to damage a window and outside fence”.
Lord Justice Moses, who described the incident as “serious, racist mob violence”, added that a brick was also hurled at the mosque’s imam during the fracas.
Nouredine Rachedi’s attackers convicted of Islamophobic assault
Ajib and Al Kanz report that Nouredine Rachedi, who suffered a vicious attack by two far-right thugs back in 2008, has finally secured some sort of justice. The two men who attacked him, Kevin Lamadieu et Romain Blandin, have been convicted of religiously motivated asault. They each received suspended prison sentences of 15 minths and are required to pay damages of €15,000.
‘Henk and Ingrid’ turn out to be violent racists
As the Netherlands heads for a general election, barely a day passes without a mention of “Henk and Ingrid“, or Mr and Mrs Average, in a political debate that has revolved around the economy and the euro zone debt crisis.
The invention of populist politician Geert Wilders – who heads the anti-immigration, anti-euro Freedom Party – this mythical couple attracted a different kind of notoriety after a real Dutch Henk, with a wife called Ingrid, killed a Turkish immigrant, prompting commentators to warn that populism can backfire.
EDL thug gets 9 years in prison for racist attack on neighbours
A man who wielded knives, broke down his neighbours’ front door and threatened to kill them, has been jailed.
Leeds Crown Court heard how Daniel Smith [on left of photo] had 167 previous convictions before he was locked up for 10 further offences today.
The 39-year-old was not present for his sentencing because he was taken back to Armley prison from the court at lunchtime after destroying two toilets in the court cells.
South Carolina: vandals smash Islamic centre’s window with ashtray
Someone threw a large outdoor, concrete ashtray through a window at the Islamic Center of South Carolina on Cherry Road in Rock Hill, causing $1,200 in damage.
The center’s director told police that sometime between 11 p.m. Monday and 5 a.m. Tuesday, someone threw the outdoor ashtray at the front of the business into a storm window, according to a Rock Hill police report.
Most of the mess was cleaned before officers arrived, the report states. Officers saw that the window was badly damaged, but still holding together.
Police did not find the ashtray but did notice the ashtray’s sand sprinkled in front of the window. There were also several cigarette butts scattered along the window, the report states.
See also CAIR press release, 6 July 2012
Attack on Missouri mosque part of national pattern
The Joplin Globe has a good article placing the recent suspected arson attack on the Islamic Society of Joplin’s mosque in the context of a general rise in anti-Muslim bigotry and hate crime.
The report quotes an ACLU spokeswoman as stating that the fact that the incident took place on 4 July is particularly troubling: “On Independence Day, we should be celebrating all of our freedoms, including freedom of religion.”
Why the attacker should have chosen that date is as yet unclear. Perhaps they’d been fired up by reading Robert Spencer.
FBI investigates possible arson at Missouri mosque
JOPLIN, Mo. — A fire early Wednesday at the Islamic Society of Joplin’s mosque is being treated as suspicious, according to police and fire officials.
Capt. Kelly Stephens of the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department said the FBI has been called in to join the investigation, and that tapes from security cameras on the property are being reviewed by authorities. Stephens said footage from the tapes is helping direct leads. He would not say what the tapes revealed.
Man who ripped off Muslim woman’s veil spared jail
A man who ripped off a Muslim woman’s veil in a shopping centre because he thought she was “just another illegal immigrant” has been spared jail.
Ian Brazier, from Shirley, Solihull, was given a six-week sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete a diversity awareness course by magistrates in the town. The 26-year-old had admitted racially aggravated assault at an early hearing.
The court heard that he tore Farhana Chughtai’s niqab from her face and threw it on the floor in Solihull’s Touchwood complex on March 3 as she shopped with family.
Racist escapes prison sentence after attack on Northampton mosque
A racist who attacked two Muslims after Friday prayers has been banned from going within 100 yards of Northampton’s main mosque.
Nigel Marshall, 42, who has a history of racially-aggravated offences, shouted racist abuse, accused two men of being terrorists, before attacking them as they tried to force him out of Abington Avenue mosque on Friday, October 21.