Two teenage Muslim boys were viciously beaten outside a Brooklyn mosque early Sunday morning after Taraweeh prayers.
The incident allegedly happened around 1:18am at the Muslim Community Center of Brooklyn in Sunset Park. According to Mohamed Bahe, the director of the mosque, the assailants repeatedly called the Muslim boys ‘terrorists’.
Police initially said they had no record of the incident, however, a spokesperson for the department later confirmed the report. “This incident did happen in the vicinity of a mosque to two individuals of Muslim faith,” the spokesperson said. “This is going to be classified as a non-bias incident.”
According to Bahe, the two teenagers were intercepted by the assailants on their way back to the mosque after getting a snack.
“The boys saw a suspicious car parked outside of our entrance. They looked at the car, trying to figure out who’s inside. They saw a woman and they asked if she needed help. Then all of a sudden a guy comes across running from the street and punches him and knocks him down. He was stomping him and kicking him,” said Bahe, citing surveillance video from the mosque.
Bahe said one of the teenagers, who originally ran away when the attack began, heard the assailant yell, “You f***ing terrorist,” as he struck the other boy. “The other kid tries to come back and the guy punches him too.”
The mosque director said he recognised the assailant from surveillance footage as a local, who he said is aware of the mosque and its congregants.
Captain Emmanuel Gonzalez of NYPD’s 72nd precinct visited the mosque on Sunday to apologise for not sending police units to their mosque during Ramazan. He further informed that his department is taking the incident seriously.
A photo purporting to show Captain Emmanuel Gonzalez visiting the mosque. PHOTO: BUZZFEED
Bahe said he had repeatedly asked the police for additional detail and security measures for the mosque, citing the month of Ramazan and rising anti-Muslim incidents in the country, but to no avail.
