Second hate crime targets Kews Gardens Hills mosque
By Joe Anuta - 4/19/2013
New York - A Kew Gardens Hills mosque was the target of another hate crime, police said, just five months after a 57-year-old man was stabbed at the same site in an early morning anti-Muslim attack.
In the latest incident, a man left the Masjid al-Saaliheen mosque, located at 72-55 Kissena Blvd., at about 8 p.m. when he noticed someone following his car in a dark SUV, police said.
When the mosque-goer stopped for a red light at the corner of Union Turnpike and 199th Street, the suspect pulled up beside him in an SUV and flashed a firearm while shouting death threats and anti-Muslim statements, according to police. The suspect then fled the scene.
Police released a sketch in connection with the crime, describing the suspect as a mustachioed man in his late 50s with a light complexion, dark hair and wearing a dark suit jacket with an emblem patch on the left pocket. He may have been driving a Toyota SUV.
This was not the mosque’s first brush with violence.
A similar incident happened in November, according to police, when a 57-year-old man was stabbed while he was opening the house of worship.
On Nov. 18 Bashir Amad was preparing Masjid al-Saaliheen for morning prayers at about 5 a.m. when police say he was beaten, bitten and stabbed by a suspect police described as a 6-foot white man between the ages of 35 and 45 weighing 180 pounds.
According to the NYPD, the man also shouted anti-Muslim statements before the ambush.
In the wake of the November attack, religious leaders from across Flushing and City Comptroller John Liu held a news conference to express solidarity and religious tolerance.
“An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,” Imam Shamsi Ali said at the time. Ali had gathered Hindu and Jewish leaders from the ethnically diverse neighborhood to all speak about peace near the scene of the crime.
Re: Second hate crime targets Kews Gardens Hills mosque
Beat me to the punch! I was just going to say, "He's white. He's a non-Muslim. It's the victim who's a Muslim. Therefore there's no way--no way--he's going to be labeled a terrorist. Period. Not even the stabber's going to be called a terrorist. Just like the white Christian who shot up the Sikh temple ignorantly looking for Muslims was invariably branded a 'killer' or an 'assailant' by the news media. The word is reserved strictly for Muslims and Arabs and that's that. Because ratings is all that matters and feeding off the public's prejudice sells."
Peace be to any prophets I may have mentioned above. Praised and exalted be my Maker, if I have mentioned Him. (Come to think of it praise Him anyway.)
Re: Second hate crime targets Kews Gardens Hills mosque
That would most likely be the charge against him, though. It would be "making a terroristic threat". I know know about New York, but in Texas that is worth up to 180 days in jail and a fine. In this case they would probably do something more severe since he actually brandished a weapon.
As for the news media, you are probably right. I doubt they would call him a terrorist. Something like this won't make big news anyway since hate crimes happen every day.
Re: Second hate crime targets Kews Gardens Hills mosque
Beware of how the media and government use words to invoke emotion rather than words that focus on facts and therefore the intellectual part of the brain. For instance, instead of using the phrase "Boston Bombing" they will say "Boston Terrorism." The goal is to override the thinking part of the brain with the emotional side of the brain. Scare people so they stop thinking and then give them the solution. Much of what is going on in the United States today is not much different than the early days of Nazi Germany. It is clearly selective how the phrases are used. If a non-Muslim makes a bomb threat he is not going to be called a terrorist. Yet if a Muslim does it, he is then called one.
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