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Dateline:
06/21/00
We all know and heard
about hate crimes against Muslims and Islamic places of worship
throughout the world.
One of these hate crimes and the latest took place in the United
States on the 21st
of June 2000.
As worshippers
arrived at the Masjed Al- Nur (Mosque of light), near the University
of
Memphis campus, for
pre-dawn prayers, a neighbor; a 26-year-old male, shot one man
and fired several more
bullets into the door of the Mosque. The worshipper was taken to a
local hospital with a
gunshot wound to the upper leg and pelvis. The authorities took the
26-year-old into
custody.
On the other, the
Council on American-Islamic relations called upon local authorities
to
investigate this as a
possible hate crime against Muslims. This incident was the latest in
a
wave of violent hate
crimes against Muslims in the United States.
In May 1999, a man
was detained while making suspicious moves around a Denver
Mosque in the early
morning hours. Police found in his car, weapons and bomb making
materials. The Council
of American-Islamic relations, recommended that Mosques should
take safety precautions
regarding these incidents, and they should cooperate with the
police concerning
safety precautions and reporting any thing suspicious.
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