Burned Quran Found In E. Lansing Mosque
A burned copy of the Quran was found at a Michigan mosque on 9/11, and now a local group is calling on the FBI to launch a hate crime investigation.
Dawud Walid with the Michigan Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says the burned Quran was found at the front entrance of the Islamic Center of East Lansing, and someone threw pages from the book in the streets surrounding the center.
Walid says additionally, some pages from Quran appeared to be smeared with feces.
And he says, there were other hate crimes reported across the nation.
"There were Quran burnings in Tennessee yesterday, and there were desecrations of the Quran in New York and in Washington D.C. outside of the White House," said Walid.
Walid says Florida Pastor Terry Jones, who had planned the "Burn a Quran Day," incited a lot of hate.
"Despite his pulling back from burning the Quran, he incited and gave a lot of bigots ideas in terms of desecrating the Quran," said Walid.
Walid says many people believe that burning the Quran is protected under the 1st Amendment, but "we believe just as it is illegal to burn a cross on a black person's yard on private property, or to burn a cross at a black church, because it's a clear act of intimidation," said Walid.
"Similarly burning the Quran at a mosque is also an act of intimidation that should fall under prosecution under federal hate crimes act."
Walid says they are asking mosques to step up security in case of another possible hate crime. But he says, he hopes this was an isolated incident.
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