Donny Eugene Mower

California Man Gets Five Years For Planned Parenthood Firebombing And Mosque Vandalism

Jillian Rayfield | January 10, 2012, 10:28AM

A California man was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to firebombing a Planned Parenthood clinic and vandalizing a mosque.

Read more »

Donny Eugene Mower

Man Pleads Guilty To Firebombing Planned Parenthood And Vandalizing Mosque

Jillian Rayfield | October 10, 2011, 12:07PM

A California man pleaded guilty to a double whammy of crimes typically associated with the right-wing, including firebombing a Planned Parenthood and vandalizing a mosque.

Read more »

Cody Crawford

Mosque Arson Suspect To Cops: 'Christians Can Jihad Too'

Ryan J. Reilly | August 25, 2011, 3:41PM

A federal grand jury in Oregon indicted 24-year-old Cody Crawford on federal hate crime and arson charges for allegedly setting fire to a mosque. The fire followed the arrest of a Muslim man for allegedly plotting a terrorist attack on a Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

Read more »

Mosques

Houston Fire Department Investigating Mosque Arson

Jillian Rayfield | May 16, 2011, 3:27PM

The Houston Fire Department says it is investigating an attempted arson at a mosque over the weekend, after two masked men reportedly poured gasoline on prayer rugs and attempted to set them on fire.

Read more »

Mosques

Pork Left On Door Handles Of Louisiana Mosque

Jillian Rayfield | May 10, 2011, 2:12PM

A mosque in the Shreveport-Bossier community of Louisiana was vandalized this week with strips of pork, which were put on the door handles of the building to evidently force worshippers to touch pork before entering.

Many Muslims refrain from eating pork, as Islam considers pigs unclean. Something similar occurred in South Carolina in October, when strips of bacon were left outside an Islamic Center, spelling out "PIG CHOPS."

Read more »

Islamophobia

New York Man Puts 'Bomb Making Next Driveway' Sign In Mosque-Adjacent Yard

Jillian Rayfield | May 10, 2011, 10:21AM

A man in East Amherst, New York escalated an ongoing feud with a neighboring mosque by placing a sign that reads "Bomb Making Next Driveway" on his lawn, saying his "intent was to catch the eye of the people who I have a problem with."

Read more »

Civil Rights

DOJ Investigating Mosque Controversy In Georgia

Ryan J. Reilly | March 7, 2011, 10:45AM

A Justice Department spokeswoman confirms to TPM that the Civil Rights Division has an ongoing investigation into whether a town council in Gwinnett County, Ga., denied a mosque a land use permit because of its religion.

As first reported by WSBTV, the Lilburn City Council has voted several times to deny the Dar-e Abbas Shia Islamic Center's rezoning and special use permit requests, which would allow the mosque to move to a larger property and build a cemetery.

Read more »

Mosques

Fire At Kansas City Mosque Under Investigation

Melissa Jeltsen | March 1, 2011, 11:03AM

Kansas City fire investigators are working to determine the cause of a three-alarm fire that destroyed a mosque in Kansas City, Missouri, early Monday morning. Federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents are also on the scene to investigate the blaze---standard procedure when a place of worship is involved in a fire.

Read more »

Craig Monteilh

Suit Claims FBI Told Mosque Informant To Get Dirt On Sex Lives, Drug Use Of Worshipers

Ryan J. Reilly and Melissa Jeltsen | February 24, 2011, 10:57AM

Craig Monteilh

The FBI allegedly told an informant who infiltrated a California mosque to dig up dirt on the immigration status, sexual activities, business problems and drug use of members of the community. A discrimination lawsuit filed against the Bureau this week charges that they hoped to use the information to convince those members to become FBI informants.

Read more »

Islam

California Mosque Opponents Defeated, Project To Go Forward

Evan McMorris-Santoro | January 28, 2011, 10:56AM

The plan to build a mosque in the southern California community of Temecula will go forward after months of protest from area residents afraid that a home for Muslim worship in their town will bring traffic, flooding and terrorists. Following an eight-hour meeting of the Temecula City Council, where the bitter fight between mosque opponents and supporters of religious freedom in the city were laid bare, council members voted 4-0 at around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday to allow the mosque project to go forward. That's left opponents -- who once suggested taunting Temecula Muslims with dogs -- scrambling over what to do next.

Reports from the meeting tell the tale of a contentious gathering that was a microcosm of the Islamophobia that has gripped the right in the past couple years, culminating with the epic struggle over the Park51 cultural center, better known by its critics as the "Ground Zero Mosque."

As the North County Times reported, many of the arguments against the Manhattan mosque project made their way to the Temecula meeting.

Read more »

Illinois

Man Who Sent Threat To IL Mosque Sentenced To Year In Prison

Rachel Slajda | November 4, 2010, 3:57PM

The Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center

A 25-year-old Maryland man was sentenced to one year in prison yesterday after sending email threats to an Illinois mosque, demanding that the mosque close or else he would "eradicate Islam."

The man, Ilya Sobolevskiy, pleaded guilty in August to obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs, a civil rights violation. He was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Illinois to 12 months in prison and a $3,000 fine.

The judge who sentenced him called the threats "an act of terror."

Read more »

Sharia

Jihad Alarmism Proves Lucrative For Leading Anti-Muslim Advocate

Rachel Slajda | October 25, 2010, 10:19AM

Steve Emerson

The Tennessean, which has been covering the controversy surrounding a proposed mosque near Murfreesboro, Tenn., came out with a long story this weekend about the money in the "anti-jihad" industry.

Most interesting is how Steve Emerson, a self-proclaimed expert on Sharia law, has set up his charity and his for-profit enterprise.

Read more »

Sharia

Fox's Pro-Williams Muslim 'Expert' Believes Most Muslims Want To Impose Sharia

Rachel Slajda | October 22, 2010, 12:55PM

Fox News, as part of their extensive coverage of the Juan Williams controversy, today lamented that "so much of this debate has excluded the opinion of the Muslim community" before turning to a Muslim --who publicly accuses 80 percent of American mosques of being radical and anti-American -- to respond.

M. Zuhdi Jasser, a Muslim physician who advocates the de-politicization of Islam, said he wasn't offended by Williams' remarks that he gets nervous whenever he sees Muslims on a plane. NPR fired Williams for the comment and Fox News immediately hired him to a $2 million contract, touching off a debate over whether what Williams said is bigoted and therefore a fireable offense.

Read more »

Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

TN Mosque Trial Continues: 'Your Honor, This Is A Circus'

Rachel Slajda | October 21, 2010, 9:46AM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

A hearing about a proposed mosque in middle Tennessee resumed yesterday, with a lawyer for the mosque's opponents claiming the mosque's leaders wanted to fly the "flag of Sharia" over the White House.

The mosque opponents, three local residents, sued Rutherford County, claiming officials violated open meeting law when approving the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro's site plan for an expanded mosque outside of Murfreesboro. The opponents want the court to stop construction.

Read more »

Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Murfreesboro Mosque Member: DOJ Support 'Is A Blessing'

Rachel Slajda | October 19, 2010, 8:57AM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

The Justice Department's decision to file an amicus brief declaring that Islam is a religion is a "blessing," says one member of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, which is fighting for its right to build a new mosque.

"The support we got today is a blessing," said Saleh Sbenaty, a longtime member of the Islamic center and a professor at Middle Tennessee State University, yesterday.

Read more »

Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

DOJ Files Brief In Favor Of Tenn. Mosque

Rachel Slajda | October 18, 2010, 1:31PM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

The Department of Justice today filed an amicus brief in a lawsuit in Murfreesboro, Tenn., where opponents of a new mosque are trying to stop its construction. In the brief, the DOJ declares that Islam is a religion and is entitled to freedom of expression.

In a press release, the U.S. attorney for the middle district of Tennessee, Jerry E. Martin, acknowledged that the lawsuit is a "local matter," but that the DOJ wants to "vigorously support" the decision of local authorities to grant the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro building permits.

The center, which has been operating in Murfreesboro for decades, has outgrown its current facility and is building a larger community center and mosque just outside the city. In addition to the legal opposition, the mosque has faced vandalism and arson, and the head of the DOJ Civil Rights Division recently visited area Muslims as a gesture of support.

Read more »

Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

DOJ Civil Rights Head Goes To TN To Reassure Muslims

Rachel Slajda | October 7, 2010, 10:49AM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

Thomas Perez, the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, went to Murfreesboro, Tenn., last week in an attempt to reassure Muslims there who have been the victims of arson and vandalism.

The Nashville Scene reports that Perez traveled around Murfreesboro on Sept. 28, speaking to leaders of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro and other Muslims.

Read more »

Frank Gaffney

TN Mosque Opponents Bring In National Sharia 'Expert' Frank Gaffney

Rachel Slajda | September 28, 2010, 1:56PM

Frank Gaffney, CEO and founder of the Center for Security Policy.

The opponents of a proposed mosque near Murfreesboro, Tenn., have brought in prominent Sharia law fearmonger Frank Gaffney to help them stop the project in court.

Gaffney, who has been warning about the supposed threat to the Constitution from Sharia for years, was the only witness in the first day of hearings in a lawsuit filed by a handful of opponents to the mosque. They're trying to convince a judge to file an injunction against the mosque's construction, on the grounds the public officials violated open meeting law when approving the project.

Read more »

Mosques

The War On Sharia Started Long Before You Ever Heard 'Ground Zero Mosque'

Rachel Slajda | September 23, 2010, 9:07AM

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

Robert Spencer, the author of JihadWatch.org, says he first became aware of the threat of Sharia "after seeing repeated attempts to assert the primacy of Islamic law over American law." One of those early attempts, he told TPMmuckraker, came in late 2006, when Muslim cab drivers in Minnesota made news by refusing to take passengers carrying alcohol. The incidents resulted in the cabbies going to the back of the queue, letting passengers with booze get into another cab.

Spencer has been one of a handful of neocons -- along with Frank Gaffney and Daniel Pipes, among others -- who have been sounding the alarm about Sharia law for years. They warn that Sharia, a system of laws defined by the Koran, is taking hold in the United States, and that it will eventually threaten the very Constitution.

Their warnings, so long spoken from the fringe, are now at the heart of today's anti-mosque rhetoric.

We started digging in the archives to find the origin of this fear. What we found may not be conclusive, but it shows a path that has lead to increasingly mainstream figures, like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, calling for a federal ban on Sharia law.

Read more »

Mosques

Car Fire At La. Mosque Investigated As Potential Hate Crime

Rachel Slajda | September 22, 2010, 11:09AM

The Islamic Center of Lafayette in Louisiana

A car in the parking lot of an Islamic community center in Lafayette, La., was lit on fire Monday night in what authorities are calling an arson and potential hate crime.

"It is arson," a fire department spokesman told The Advertiser. "Someone set fire to the exterior."

Read more »

Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act

DOJ Monitoring 8 Cases Of Alleged Discrimination Against Muslim Institutions, Prisoners

Ryan J. Reilly | September 21, 2010, 2:00PM

A group of men gather in prayer during the first day of Ramadan at the Masjid An-Noor Mosque.

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has begun monitoring eight separate cases of alleged discrimination against Muslims under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) since May 2010, according to a report issued Tuesday.

"We see a spike, regrettably," said Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez in a speech before the American Constitution Society. A spokeswoman declined to name the individual investigations, but confirmed that the department was monitoring those cases and had not yet opened full investigations.

Read more »

Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Tenn. Mosque Opponents File Lawsuit To Block Construction

Rachel Slajda | September 20, 2010, 11:11AM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

Opponents of a proposed mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., have sued several of the town's officials in an attempt to stop construction.

The opponents, led by Kevin Fisher, filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that county officials violated open meeting laws and, therefore, that the approval of the mosque project is void.

According to Fisher et al, the officials didn't give proper notice for the planning commission meeting where the mosque was approved, and also held a secret "pre-meeting" that was closed to the public.

Read more »

Muslims

Holder To Meet With Religious Leaders Today On Anti-Muslim Bigotry

Rachel Slajda | September 7, 2010, 2:17PM

Religious leaders from several faiths are meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder today to discuss the recent spate of anti-Muslim sentiment and violence.

At a press conference this afternoon following an interfaith meeting, Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said he and other religious leaders will meet with Holder, at Holder's request, later today.

The Justice Department confirms and says they will release a "readout" of the meeting after it occurs.

Read more »

Islam

Muslim Groups Push Back Against Increasing Hate Speech

Rachel Slajda | September 6, 2010, 9:29AM

The press conference announcing My Faith My Voice.

As anti-Muslim sentiment appears to be on the rise throughout the country, with high-profile protests against mosque construction and a handful of violent episodes against Muslims, Muslim groups are pushing back.

Last Monday, a group of young Muslim professionals from the D.C. area launched My Faith My Voice, a web site that encourages fellow Muslims to upload their own PSAs explaining that although they are Muslim, they're not terrorists.

"When we see our loyalty as Americans questioned, that's something we take very seriously," the group's lawyer, Hassan Ahmad, told TPM. "The point of the campaign is one of bridge building, reassurance, an invitation to listen to who we actually are ... that Americans of other faiths will lend an ear and listen."

Read more »

Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Feds Declare TN Mosque Site Fire An Arson

Rachel Slajda | September 3, 2010, 5:50PM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

Federal authorities have officially declared the fire at the site of a community center and mosque near Murfreesboro, Tenn., an arson.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said today that an accelerant was definitely used in the torching of construction equipment at the site last Saturday morning. The agency is offering a $20,000 reward leading to an arrest.

Authorities told the Tennessean that they cannot rule the arson a hate crime until they have a suspect.

Read more »

Civil Rights Division

DOJ Investigating Anti-Muslim Incidents

Rachel Slajda | September 2, 2010, 1:43PM

Ahmed Sharif

The Department of Justice is investigating two recent, high-profile anti-Muslim incidents, TPMmuckraker confirms.

A DOJ spokeswoman says the department has opened investigations into the attack on a Muslim cab driver in New York City and an apparent arson at the site of a future mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Read more »

Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

FBI Seeks To Reassure Tenn. Muslims After Mosque Site Fire

Rachel Slajda | September 2, 2010, 10:05AM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

The FBI met with Tennessee's Muslim leaders Monday to discuss the recent arson at a mosque site in Murfreesboro and reassure the leaders that federal officials are on the case.

As the Washington Post reports, the meeting took place at the U.S. attorney's office in Nashville. The U.S. attorney is the one who will determine whether the fire rises to the level of a hate crime or civil rights violation, and the FBI is the agency which conducts hate crimes investigations.

It's a signal that the feds are looking at the arson as a hate crime, even though they've officially said there's "no indication" that the fire qualifies.

Read more »

Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Police Report In Tennessee Mosque Site Fire: Engine Was Running

Rachel Slajda | September 1, 2010, 11:57AM

The police report filed by the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department, the local agency investigating a fire that destroyed construction equipment at the site of a mosque in Tennessee, shows that the engine was running on the dump truck that was torched.

The police report, obtained today by TPMmuckraker, is brief. But it does reveal two bits of information: One, that the engine was running on the destroyed machinery. Two, police observed someone in a car watching the fire from the road, who then drove away.

You can read the report here.

Read more »

Mosques

Teens Harass Muslims In Upstate New York

Rachel Slajda | September 1, 2010, 10:55AM

The five teenagers arrested.

Five teenagers have been arrested for disrupting religious services at a mosque in upstate New York after allegedly driving by the mosque during Ramadan services, honking their horns and firing a shotgun.

The five, who are all 17 and 18, have allegedly driven by the World Sufi Foundation mosque in Carlton, N.Y., during Ramadan services twice over the past week, yelling obscenities.

Read more »

Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Former Civil Rights Division Lawyer: TN Mosque Attack Looks Like A Hate Crime

Rachel Slajda | August 31, 2010, 3:34PM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

A veteran of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division says he'd be surprised if the fire at the site of a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn. isn't investigated as a hate crime.

"I think it's pretty clear that there's a hate crime investigation underway," William Yeomans, who served in the division for 24 years and was briefly the acting director, told TPMmuckraker today.

Read more »

Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Tennessee Mosque Received Threats Before Fire

Rachel Slajda | August 31, 2010, 11:11AM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro reportedly received threats in the week before the fire on its property, according to a local TV station, including one that was recorded on voicemail.

News Channel 5 reports that someone called the Islamic center a few days before the fire and left a message saying, in part, "You need to get out of the country now."

A fire was discovered early Saturday morning at the site of the proposed Islamic center and mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn. An accelerant had been dumped over four pieces of construction equipment, and one was set on fire.

Read more »

Mosques

ATF "Leaning Toward Arson" In TN Mosque Fire

Rachel Slajda | August 30, 2010, 2:59PM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

Local and federal authorities are investigating a fire at the construction site of an Islamic community center and mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., this weekend, as well as reports of gunshots as community members gathered at the site.

The fire, which damaged a large piece of construction equipment, was discovered early Saturday morning. The local sheriff's office, the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau and the FBI are investigating.

Read more »

Stephen Colbert

Colbert On Mosque Rug Urinator: It Really Angered 'Imam Mohammed Nadir Al-Dude' (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | August 27, 2010, 10:09AM

Last night, Stephen Colbert was surprised to hear about accused Muslim cabbie slasher Michael Enright's background, especially when he went through recent editions of the New York Post. Enright "wasn't even in this one titled 'If You're Mad About Islam You Should Pull Over A Muslim Cab Driver And Stab Him,'" Colbert said.

He continued that people like Enright are "sully[ing] Muslim bashing for the rest of us law abiding bigots," like the drunk man who was arrested for urinating on a prayer rug in a New York mosque, or as Colbert called it, "criminal tres-pissing."

This act, Colbert said, elicited strong reactions from "Imam Mohammed Nadir Al-Dude," more commonly known as the character "The Dude" in The Big Lebowski.

Read more »

Jon Stewart

Daily Show's Aasif Mandvi: Peaceful Muslims In TN Ruining It For The Rest Of Us (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | August 26, 2010, 9:41AM

Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi was on the scene in Tennessee to report on local opposition to a planned mosque in Murfreesboro. "Opponents say building a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero is simply too close," Mandvi said. "But did you know that 18,000 blocks is also too close?"

Mandvi found out that there was already a mosque in the town that had been there for about 30 years. So he asked a local Muslim woman: "Thirty years? What is taking so long? I mean, let's go people. I mean, you're not a sleeper cell. You're a comatose cell!"

When she contended that all they want is a place to worship, Mandvi replied: "A few good apples like you could really ruin it for the rest of us, you know that?"

Read more »

Mosques

Another Mosque Project Comes Under Fire -- In Kentucky

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 20, 2010, 8:44AM

Perhaps it's no longer surprising in the current climate, but yet another mosque construction project is coming under increased attack from critics this month. It's time to add Florence, Kentucky to the list of controversial Islamic construction projects stretching from Temecula, California to Murfreesboro, Tennessee to, of course, lower Manhattan.

It may be that the Cordoba House project in New York has led to increased attention on -- and opposition to -- the Florence, Kentucky mosque project, which has been in the planning stages since at least 2002. At least one Republican politician has weighed in on both, and the answer is (or, really, is not) surprising: he says one shouldn't be built, while construction of the other is Constitutionally guaranteed.

Here's a description of the project in question from the Northern Kentucky Enquirer:

The site is identified as a 5.58-acre parcel at 900 Cayton Road in Florence. It is in the section that runs between Mall Road and Hopeful Church Road, behind Kroger and the former Hollywood Video site.

Sounds tame enough -- and picturesque to boot. Who wouldn't want to worship next to an old Hollywood Video? When the proposed site was announced July 26, the mosque seemed to be unimportant to the residents of Florence, according to the Enquirer.

Read more »