FIRST REPORT: Man points gun at Dayton mosque camera: ‘This is intended as a hate crime’
“We hope this reward will result in actionable information for investigators and lead to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator,” said CAIR-Cincinnati Executive Director Karen Dabdoub.
Up to three people were inside the mosque on Feb. 28 when they heard loud crashes just before 6 a.m. during fajr prayers, said Ayman Salem, vice chairman of the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton.
“If the person picked that time, he knows this is our prayer time,” Salem said.
Dabdoub said when a house of worship of a minority religious community is physically attacked “the automatic assumption is that this is intended as a hate crime.”
The mosque’s security cameras caught a man wearing a dark leather-like jacket, tinted glasses and a light cap. He jumped over the property’s back fence before circling around the front to the south side of the building on Josie Street where he smashed the windows and pointed a gun toward cameras, Salem said.
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No one was injured inside the mosque on Josie Street.
The Dayton Police Department has made the case a priority, but it’s too soon to know what brought about the crime, according to a police statement Wednesday.
“At this point there is not sufficient evidence to draw a conclusion or make a determination on whether this is a bias crime or not,” the statement read.
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