MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) - Members of the Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota metropolitan area turned out with brushes, chemicals, and power washers Monday to help clean a mosque that was spray-painted with derogatory terms and hate speech.
The vandalism was discovered Sunday morning on the outside of the Moorhead Fargo Islamic Community Center, which is located in Moorhead. Video surveillance from the building captured images of a suspect wearing a camouflage jacket and dark ski mask.
College student Nadir Yusef said he was sad to see the hatred but happy that the community came together to help with the cleanup, KFGO radio reported.
“It was very disappointing to see someone in our community do something outrageous like this but seeing all these people here shows that there are a lot of community members who care about each other,” Yusef said.
A GoFundMe page had raised more than $31,000 for the mosque as of Monday evening. The mayors of Fargo and three surrounding cities issued a statement expressing their support for the Muslim community.
“Those criminal actions are completely contradictory to the values of tolerance, respect and acceptance we embrace in all of our communities,” the statement said. “The vandalism was a heinous act of hate attacking the center during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.”
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