Islamic advocacy group calling for hate crime charges after Paterson school vandalized a second time

The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations wants the person who vandalized a school sign in Paterson charged with a hate crime.

Lanette Espy

Apr 11, 2023, 12:54 PM

Updated 612 days ago

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An Islamic advocacy group is calling for action after two acts of vandalism in less than a week.
News 12 has learned that a suspect is under arrest for smearing feces - twice - on the Dr. Hani Awadallah School sign in Paterson. Both times the word "Allah" was covered in it. The first incident happened on Friday, April 7, and the second incident happened on Monday.
The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations wants that person charged with a hate crime.
"While we are still learning the facts of the incidents, we have reason to believe that the suspect acted on an anti-Muslim impulse due to his social media postings, in which he posted the defecated sign as well as a desecrated Qur'an,” CAIR-NJ Executive Director Selaedin Maksut said in a statement.
"We condemn the incident in the strongest terms and continue to call for a hate crime probe,” said Maksut.