From [HERE] A Cypress area mosque has filed police and hate crime reports after members of the Islamic Outreach Center-Cypress found a dead pig on the mosque deck Tuesday.
Members found the slaughtered pig during their evening prayer time, and they believe its appearance was no accident. A day later, members found what appeared to be pig intestines hanging from the mosque's gate. Over the years, pigs have been used as a symbol against Muslims because it is against their faith to eat pork.
In response, the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights group, has joined the local mosque to speak out against what they consider an apparent hate crime. Muslim leaders additionally stated the mosque will be installing a security system.
"It is very alarming to see a house of worship being targeted with such an offensive gesture. It compromises the Muslim community's sense of safety,” said Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of CAIR-Texas in a statement. “We ask for everyone's support during this time. We ask that law enforcement investigate this incident and the perpetrator be held accountable.”
According to the group, hate crimes have been increasing. The FBI reports there were 107 anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2009 and 160 in 2010. “Between July 2010 and July 2012, the organization’s lawyers and staff processed 5,589 civil rights complaints. CAIR has served more than 28,000 complainants since 1994,” according to a report the group presented to Congress.
“There is no place for hate targeting houses of worship,” Carroll added. “The increase of Islamophobic rhetoric in American society is contributing to these unfortunate occurrences."
Earlier in 2006, a dispute over pig races near a Katy mosque under construction made national news. A local man held a pig racing event that attracted about 100 onlookers near the site. However, the man denied the event was prejudiced.
More recently, in November, a San Antonio man was arrested after threatening to “shoot as many people as possible” at a local mosque with his .45 caliber handgun.
Christopher Bane, 44, was ultimately charged with a Class B misdemeanor terroristic threat.
CAIR has reported other hate crimes, attacks and threats all over America in New York, Washington, Virginia, Minnesota and Ohio.
Currently the Harris County Sheriff’s office is investigating the incident. Spokesperson Christina Garza said charges could be criminal mischief, trespassing or cruelty to animals at a minimum.
“We are not calling it a hate crime yet. That depends on our investigation,” she said. “If we find any evidence indicating it was a hate crime, we’d obviously have to discuss it with the district attorney’s office. Those have to be very specific for the charge to even be filed.”