Mosque in Canada's St. John Vandalized
One member of a St. John's mosque was left "shaken to the core" as the Masjid-an-Noor Mosque was being vandalized during worship Tuesday, according to the head of the Newfoundland and Labrador Muslim Association.
The incident happened just before 9:30 Tuesday night, said Syed Mansoor Pirzada.
"He heard a loud bang on the side window. Obviously he got startled and shaken, so he looked in the camera system and he saw three people approaching from the front entrance," Pirzada said Friday. "They went to the garbage dump and they brought the garbage and threw it in front of the entrance."
Pirzada said the group was also caught on camera throwing eggs and liquids at the building before running toward Portugal Cove Road.
"It was a very shocking incident for all of us," he said.
Pirzada said the man inside the mosque was frightened. He pointed to two recent deadly events that were charged by Islamophobia — a shooting at a Quebec mosque that killed six people in January 2017, along with the killing of four members of a Pakistani-Canadian family that involved a man ramming his pickup truck onto the sidewalk in June 2021 — that have stayed in the minds of worshippers.
"He was really shaken to the core," he said. "We have these Quebec incidents in our mind, these London, Ont., incidents in our mind not too long ago. Those were really terrifying and devastating for our community. Everybody feels that edge."
"The parents of these kids, all of us have to teach our children how to live peacefully in the community, be respectful of each other, be tolerant of each other. Because that's the only way we can bring peace and keep peace in our community."
The video of the incident has been given to the RNC.
Source: CBC
