Texas mosque targeted by arson, hate graffiti, slurs

[caption id="attachment_11896" align="alignleft" width="180" caption="Islam - Wikipedia commons"][/caption]

 Editor - A Muslim civil rights group has asked the FBI to
encourage police protection at U.S. mosques because hate crimes against
Muslims have been growing in Texas and across the country.

The Texas office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-TX) that hate
graffiti, racial slurs, incidents and arson have targeted a mosque in
Texas.

In addition CAIR reports it is also looking into a report of recent vandalism at a mosque under construction in Round Rock, Texas. A motive has not yet been established in that case. 

CAIR-TXsaid there was a fire on Sunday at the playground of Dar El-Eman Islamic Center in Arlington, Texas.
This followed an incident that had occurred two days earlier in which
obscene anti-Muslim graffiti was discovered in the mosque's parking lot.
A third incident involved racial slurs being shouted at worshippers on
Sunday.

Mosques are said to be targeted nationwide.

A spokesperson for Arlington
police told CAIR that arson investigators and the FBI are involved in
investigations of these incidents.  Police patrols are also said to have
been increased in the area surrounding the mosque.

CAIR
and Texas police have met to discuss the problems involving these
incidents, both in preventing further incidents and determining who is
behind the ones that have recently occurred.

"We
appreciated the prompt and professional actions of local and federal
agencies in responding to these disturbing incidents," said CAIR-Texas
Executive Director Mustafaa Carroll, who
took part in Tuesday's meeting at the mosque. "We ask the FBI to
encourage police departments nationwide to step up protection at
American mosques and Islamic centers."

The Texas Penal Code allows for enhanced penalties if an offense is "committed because of bias or prejudice."