Los Angeles police are looking for a person seen on video defacing a mosque in Koreatown with “anti-Islamic hate phrases” on Sunday, authorities mentioned.
Safety digital camera footage exhibits the suspect writing with a everlasting marker on the Islamic Heart of Southern California, a mosque and cultural middle on Vermont Avenue round 12:40 p.m., in response to the Los Angeles Police Division.
Police launched a photograph of the person, who’s believed to be in his 40s, about 5ft 9 tall and weighs about 180lbs. He wore a black cap, black shirt, black shorts, black pants and black sneakers.
The person was final seen fleeing north on Vermont Avenue.
“That is an appalling act of vandalism focusing on the middle the place harmless individuals collect for his or her every day spiritual observances,” the Islamic Heart of Southern California mentioned in an announcement, including that the neighborhood was “deeply saddened and troubled ” could also be.
The vandalism occurred through the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which started in late March. Muslims carry out every day prayers and abstain from consuming and ingesting from simply earlier than dawn till sundown through the month in an effort to deliver them nearer to God.
Hate crimes in Los Angeles County have been on the rise, rising to the best stage in almost twenty years, in response to the latest annual report from the county’s Fee on Human Relations.
In keeping with the report launched in December, there have been 786 victims of hate crimes in 2021, a 23% enhance since 2020 and the best since 2002. Greater than half of the crimes had been racially motivated.
Faith-motivated hate crimes elevated by 29% from 86 in 2020 to 111 in 2021, accounting for 14% of all hate crimes. Incidents in opposition to Muslims, Jews, Christians and Scientologists all elevated.
