Anti-Islamic Messages Scrawled on Mosque

Sheriff’s investigators are treating a series of crudely worded messages scrawled on the doors and walls of a Thousand Oaks mosque as a hate crime.

The messages, some written in heavy red ink and others with black spray paint or marker, were discovered earlier this week by members of the Islamic Center of Conejo Valley as they came to pray at the Borchard Road mosque.

“We want to let the person who did this know that we are not intimidated,” said Mohamed Elshafie, a Camarillo resident and a representative of the mosque’s board of directors. “We want the neighbors to know that this is somebody in their neighborhood who is using these kind of words. Islam is a religion like any other religion.”

More than 200 families are members of the Islamic center, Elshafie said.

A witness said a white male in his mid-50s was seen writing the messages on the one-story building about 7 p.m. Tuesday night, according to Cmdr. Keith Parks of the East Valley Sheriff’s Station.

The man was described as 6 feet tall, about 210 pounds and wearing a green T-shirt.

The man scrawled profane insults directed at members of one of Ventura County’s only Islamic mosques and warnings that the congregation was doomed because they don’t follow the teachings of Christianity.

“Allah = Devil” was written in thick black marker across a green double door at the front of the white building, which was previously a day-care center.

In dark red ink in 3-inch-high letters “Allah is the devil he will take you to hell!” was written on a white stucco wall. The same message was repeated several times in black spray paint on the the mosque’s parking lot.

Elshafie and others at the mosque said they left the messages untouched so more people could see them and the word would get out through the media. Even so, Bader Iqbal, a vice chairman of the board of directors, said a few in the congregation were so offended they removed some of the graffiti in the parking lot.

“There was no predicting that this was going to happen,” Iqbal said.

Sheriff’s officials who met with mosque leaders Friday said they will be diligent in finding whomever was responsible for the messages.

The crime is considered felony vandalism, said Capt. Frank O’Hanlon of the East Valley Detective Bureau. If someone is arrested, detectives will recommend to prosecutors that they file the charges as hate crimes, he said.

Through May of this year, there have been 15 hate crimes reported to the Sheriff’s Department, said spokesman Eric Nishimoto. Through May 2000, 11 hate crimes had been reported. Overall, there were 19 hate crimes reported in Ventura County last year, Nishimoto said.

“We won’t tolerate this,” said East Valley Cmdr. Parks after meeting with leaders of the mosque. “We consider this a serious crime. It’s not just an assault on the families that worship here. It’s an assault on all of Thousand Oaks and Ventura County.”