Vigil Held to Support Minnesota Mosque after Hate Crime
Officials with the center found bacon in the parking lot and in the front door alcove of the center. Muslims cannot eat nor handle pork under their religious tenets.
The incident has prompted an investigation by police.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations of Minnesota called on local and federal law enforcement to investigate the incident as a possible hate crime.
Community leaders responded Sunday at 6:30 a.m. with a vigil, words of compassion, song and a generous helping of coffee.
"I think we reached a point in this community that it's time for good people to get into the game and stand up against hatred," said Patrick Phelan, owner of Fiddlehead Coffee.
Phelan and Fiddlehead staff were on hand much of the day in the parking lot north of the Islamic Center providing coffee for center supporters.
People wore bracelets of green held signs to show their support for the center.
Nicholas Brewer made signs in Arabic for supporters to hold.
"For something like this, there needs to be an equal and opposite reaction," Brewer said.
Dee Sabol, executive director of the Diversity Council in Rochester, said the vigil was a stronger reaction than the act that prompted it.
"I think when these small, petty things happen in our community, it's easy to say 'what's the big deal,'" Sabol said. "But all of these things that push people to the outside, they hurt us as a community."
Small acts of hate are less like to happen if there's a strong reaction against them, said Kamau Wilkins, founder of Rochester for Justice.
"When a large group of people come out together, even against small acts, it's a measure of preventative action," he said. "It shows the community support this Mosque does have."
Brittany Anderson, a member of the Machinist Union, District Lodge 77, said the incident should concern anyone interested in religious liberty.
"Religious freedom should be important for all of us," she said. "If anyone can be under attack, then all of us can be under attack."
Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede stopped by at the end of the vigil. He said he was impressed so many people organized so quickly. He said he heard about the event when it was already underway and headed to the Islamic Center to show support personally and from the city. He said religious discrimination is not Rochester.
"This is very — to use a kind word — disappointing," he said of the Saturday incident.
Source: postbulletin.com
