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Haroon Khan, the director of Vancouver’s oldest mosque, said he was shocked and “profoundly sad” to find out that it had been vandalized on Thursday night.
“It’s heartbreaking to see something like this,” he said.
“I didn’t believe it when I saw the photo. I thought it was from somewhere else,” he added.
WATCH | Alleged vandal caught on surveillance footage:
Alleged mosque vandalism captured on CCTV
Footage captured by security cameras shows a person in a grey jacket, with their hood up, approaching the entrance to the Al Masjid Al Jamia just before 11.30 p.m. PT on Thursday carrying a black backpack and a can of red spray paint.
They are seen spraying the words “UK BLOOD IS ON YOUR HAND” across the front doors, before departing about one and a half minutes later.
“The main thing that I’d like to know is why. Why would he do it?” Khan said.
Mosque director Haroon Khan said he would like to speak to the person who committed the act of vandalism in an effort to connect and dispel any misunderstandings they might have. (CBC)
The words on the doors, since covered up, have baffled the Vancouver Police Department too.
“We don’t quite know what it means. It’s a very confusing message,” said Sgt. Adam Donaldson.
“But we are alive to the fact that this is on a mosque. This is meant to intimidate,” he added.
Sgt. Adam Donaldson with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) says the meaning of the words that were spray painted on the mosque. (Simon Gohier/Radio-Canada)
On the available evidence, he said, it could not be investigated as a hate crime.
“We need to get inside the head of the person that did this. If we find evidence that this is a hate crime, then we’ll go pursue that charge,” he said.
He said, until then, the VPD would investigate the alleged vandalism as a crime of mischief.
But Khan described the hatred as “very real and virulent,” and said it had been on full display recently when the mosque hosted an open day for the public.
“The comments we got on social media were insane. The worst of the worst,” he said.
“It goes to show that there’s ignorance and fear. And when you put those together, it’s a very potent combination to make hate come forward in a very real and destructive way.”
Through Friday, extra police patrols were deployed in the Fairview area where the mosque is located.
A ‘spiritual home’ for Muslims
Al Masjid Al Jamia was opened in 1963, originally operating as a cultural centre for Vancouver’s growing Pakistani Canadian community.
In the mid-1980s, it was converted into a mosque, and now serves a diverse congregation of Muslims.
“It’s known as the spiritual home of Vancouver, and British Columbia’s, Muslim community,” Khan said.
“This is the root of all the mosques that have been established since.”
Through Friday, extra police patrols were deployed in Vancouver’s Fairview neighbourhood where the Al Masjid Al Jamia is located. (CBC)
Khan said he would like to speak to the person who committed the act of vandalism to connect and dispel any misunderstandings they might have.
“Sometimes good people do bad things. These things happened. But you know, if you come forward with the spirit of reconciliation, then we can overcome it,” he said.
“The door can always be painted over.”