The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced a $5,000 reward for anyone who gives information to help find the person who put raw bacon on the door handles of a mosque in Las Vegas.
FBI agents are trying to find the man seen in a surveillance video putting bacon on the entrances of Masjid-e-Tawheed, a statement from the FBI revealed.
As Islam prohibits eating pork and in the past pigs have been used to offend Muslims, authorities termed the incident as a possible hate crime and a desecration of the mosque.
The FBI described the suspect as “white man with black or dark brown hair and long thin side burns.” Further, the surveillance video showed the suspect was wearing a dark blue hat, jacket and black-framed glasses.
On December 27 at around 3:15 am a man wrapped bacon on the mosque’s door knobs. “The bacon was wrapped on door knobs and was also found on the ground and fences around the mosque,” Las Vegas police spokesperson Larry Hadfield said.
Though officials at the mosque were not available for comment, the FBI and Las Vegas police said investigation was underway.
Hate crimes in the US have increased following the San Bernardino shooting in November.
Last month, US authorities were investigating an incident in which a pig’s head was thrown at a mosque in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Mayor-elect Jim Kenney decried what he called an act of bigotry. “We cannot allow hate to divide us now, in the face of unprecedented difficulties,” he said in a statement.
Surveillance video showed a red truck driving past the Al-Aqsa mosque in North Philadelphia and someone throwing an object from the window, police said. A caretaker later discovered the pig’s head they said.
A mosque spokesperson called it a “hate motivated” act. Pork is not religiously sanctioned by Islamic law and is considered a non-halal food item.
