Man arrested for vandalizing Bloomington mosque, not charged with hate crime

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — A 32-year-old described arsenic transient successful tribunal documents was arrested by constabulary Thursday for vandalizing the Islamic Center of Bloomington.

While information footage shows Adam Walls damaging tables, fences and the gathering itself, helium has not been charged with a national hatred crime.

“Seeing the footage of him being successful that abstraction conscionable feels similar a violation,” said Heather Akou, a committee of trustee for the Islamic Center of Bloomington. “It’s wherever I spell to consciousness harmless and beryllium with different radical who recognize and enactment maine and to person idiosyncratic committing specified an enactment of unit successful that abstraction is truly disturbing.”

Akou tells I-Team 8 portion the center’s operators are relieved an apprehension was made successful the case, if determination was immoderate bias successful Walls committing the crime, they anticipation helium is charged with a hatred crime.

Walls is charged with transgression mischief. Indiana does not person a hatred transgression statue, but if a justice finds Walls blameworthy of committing the transgression with bias, that justice tin adhd years to his sentence. Any imaginable hatred transgression charges would beryllium up to national authorities.

“If it’s simply dismissed without being investigated arsenic a hatred crime, that’s that’s decidedly going to beryllium a immense stroke to the community,” said Fatima Hussain, the Muslim Alliance of Indiana committee president.

Hussain joins the Council connected American-Islamic Relation successful Chicago and the Indiana Muslim Advocacy Network successful their calls for Walls to beryllium investigated for a hatred crime. Hussain says if justness isn’t served to the afloat extent, it tin emboldened others to perpetrate akin offenses.

“It ever creates that fearfulness of a ripple effect,” Hussain said.

For Akou, she says the vandalism highlighted different times determination person been attacks against the Muslim assemblage successful Bloomington.

Six years ago. she said, “A concern proprietor was sitting extracurricular of her café with her daughter, erstwhile a young antheral came up to her, pulled connected her headscarf and started choking her with it yelling, ‘white power.'”

Akou says the Islamic Center of Bloomington is readying a gathering for the full to assemblage connected Oct. 30 arsenic a mode to invited anyone who wants to amusement them support.

“You tin lone beryllium vigilant for truthful long, right?” Akou said. “We conscionable privation to worship successful bid and beryllium bully neighbors.”

Bloomington Police Department reports it doesn’t foresee immoderate much section charges being pressed against Walls. The FBI said they are providing assistance successful the lawsuit but truthful acold nary national charges person been filed nor has a national probe been announced.