Authorities are looking into what could be considered a potential hate crime after surveillance cameras caught a pig’s head being thrown in front of a mosque in North Philadelphia.
The cameras caught a red van circling the block by the Al Aqsa Islamic Society before tossing the pig head in front of the mosque the second time around. Marwan Kreidie, head of the Arab-American Development Corporation, which is also located in the mosque, reported the incident to the FBI after an employee of his company found the head in front of the mosque Monday morning.
“It’s worse now that it was after 9/11, which is really frightening. [Sept. 11] was a horrible incident, but we didn’t have this kind of reaction, nobody threw a pig’s head. A pig’s head doesn’t do much. Could the next thing be a pipe bomb?”
This isn’t the first time that this particular mosque was targeted in this sort of attack in recent times. A day after the Paris attacks, a voicemail calling Allah a “piece of pork sh**” was discovered. The number of the caller was tracked down and sent to the police.
Local officials have condemned the act, with the incoming Mayor Jim Kenney releasing a statement, urging all residents to stick together.
“The bigotry that desecrated Al Aqsa mosque today has no place in Philadelphia.”
