Between prayers on the morning of Eid-al-Adha yesterday, worshipers at the Islamic Center of Cleveland welcomed a stranger into their mosque.
A middle-aged white man clad in a T-shirt and jeans had approached the congregation gathered outside their stately place of worship in Parma, Ohio and asked about registration. He was told, “There’s no need for registration — you’re more than welcome to come in.”
But the man soon started calling the mosque members “pedophiles” and “terrorists.” After he was asked to leave, he ran to his car and started rummaging under his seat. Recounting the scene to Fox 8 Cleveland, Hasan Saleh said they chased the man’s vehicle a short distance before he drove straight into police officers directing traffic on a nearby block.
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on state and federal law enforcement to consider prosecuting the man for a hate crime.
