Every Friday morning, the Seattle Chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community hosts a food bank at its mosque in Monroe, Wahington. Ten local families show up every week to get food, said Alam Ali, Director of Media and Public Affairs for the chapter.
But volunteers today arrived at the mosque to see its front facade defaced with spray paint. Written next to an unintelligible mash of black and yellow was the message: "Fuck U."
The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office believes that the spray painting occurred sometime between Sunday afternoon and today. The department is asking anyone with information about the graffiti to call its anonymous tip line at 425-388-3845.
"We will not tolerate any crimes motivated by prejudice in Snohomish County," said Sheriff Ty Trenary. "We are asking for the public's help to find who committed this hateful act and so we can bring them to justice."
On Sunday, the mosque held a blood drive to honor the victims of 9/11. Attendees may have gone to services through the week, Ali said, but did not see the graffiti because they typically enter through a side door.
Ahmadiyya Muslims will meet at the mosque tonight to plan a gathering with community members either Saturday or Sunday. Ali said that the graffiti incident marked the first time he can recall the mosque having any tension with the local community. "Theyâve welcomed us and made us feel at home," he said in a phone interview, adding, "Weâre not looking to prosecute. Weâre looking for an opportunity to cooperate."
Federal law enforcement agencies have reported a surge of anti-Muslim hate crimes in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. And the Council of American-Islamic Relations recently released a report showing a 57 percent increase in 2016 of bias-based incidents against Muslims or people perceived to be Muslim.
As Omar Ghabra reported in June, Seattle and Washington State have not been spared from what appears to be a rising tide of Islamophobia. Mosques in Bellevue, Redmond and Seattle have all faced threats or vandalism in the last two years.
