HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — Law enforcement was seen outside Baitus Samee Mosque in northwest Harris County on Friday afternoon.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office was patrolling the area after a man vandalized the building’s exterior with hate speech on Wednesday afternoon.
“It was quite shocking,” Nasir Malik of Houston’s Ahmadiyya Muslim Community said.
HCSO said it received a call at 2:37 p.m. on Wednesday reporting the vandalism in the 1300 block of Spears Road.
Malik said the graffiti, written in Urdu, translated to “false prophet” in English.
The mosque gave ABC13 surveillance video of the suspect, but the man’s identity remains unknown.
Nasir Tanauli, president of Houston’s Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, is hopeful this isn’t a sign of more hateful acts to come.
“I hope this is a lone wolf situation,” Tanauli said.
He expressed concern that whoever vandalized the mosque isn’t above setting it on fire at a later date.
The graffiti was removed before prayer began Friday at 1:30 p.m.
The FBI could investigate the vandalism due to potential violations of federal civil rights laws, but there’s no confirmation that it will.
The FBI says it is aware of the situation and prepared to get involved if necessary.
Malik and Tanauli recognize the need for the justice system to do its job, but they’re hoping for something different than punishing the suspect through the criminal justice system.
“We would like him to come and sit down and have a dialogue with us,” Malik said. “We would love him to sit down with us and share his feelings with us.”
Malik, who is originally from Pakistan, believes the man who spray-painted the mosque hails from the same country.
Baitus Samee Mosque is hosting a community prayer event in response to this act on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
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