The Islamic Center of Davis was vandalized on Sunday, and surveillance video shows a woman in her 20s or 30s arriving outside the mosque around 3:50 a.m., leaving strips of bacon on door handles, and shattering windows on the building.
The Islamic Center said that the video appeared to show an ice pick in the woman's hand with which she was smashing windows, and "She was also seen slashing bike tires that were parked outside of the Masjid."
Sacramento's Fox 40 provides some of the footage in the clip above, and Imam Ammar Shahin tells the station that while he and the community do not understand what was clearly an act of hate, they are not angry. "Respond to crime with crime or hate with hate, we don't do that, our religion is very peaceful," he said.
Sadly, it seems that the mosque was also the target of one of those hateful, photocopied letters that were sent out in late November to mosques in multiple California cities as well as dozens outside the state. Addressing "the children of Satan" and "you Muslims," the letter, which in each case was postmarked in Santa Clarita, California, referred to President Trump as the "new sheriff in town" who is going to "cleanse America."
"He's going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews." - Mailed to a #SanJose mosque. Statement from #CAIR: https://t.co/ASSQFLhLVg pic.twitter.com/ZMwhifn9Yt
— Zahra Billoo (@ZahraBilloo) November 26, 2016
The LAPD and multiple law enforcement agencies opened investigations into the incident, however the FBI stated that the letter was "too vague" to constitute a hate crime, as the LA Times reported. No arrest or citation has been made in the case.
KCBS News describes the suspect in this new Davis case as "a white female adult with red or brown wavy hair, between 25 to 35 years old, standing 5’4″ to 5’8″ tall, weighing about 160 to 180 pounds... wearing beige high-top shows, gray or blue pants, a white vest and black cap." Davis authorities say they do consider this act a hate crime, because of the use of bacon, which is a pork product forbidden under Islam.
Those with information can contact the Davis Police Department at 530-747-5400.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is offering a $1,000 reward for the woman's arrest.
Related: Threatening Letter Addressed To 'You Muslims' Sent To Seven California Mosques