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The windows of the Mauricie Islamic Cultural Centre were smashed in an act of vandalism early Wednesday morning in Trois-Rivières, Que.
The incident came after reports of recent online threats and harassment targeting the Muslim community in the city of about 140,000 people, located just south of Quebec City.
When Mohamed Toubal, president of the mosque’s executive committee, arrived on site Wednesday, he consulted the cameras and discovered someone arrived by foot early in the morning and threw three projectiles at the building.
“This event saddens us,” he said. “It hurts our community.”
Just last month, a Quebec-based Muslim advocacy group called for a full investigation after hateful and violent comments flooded social media following a private Eid al-Adha prayer gathering in Trois-Rivières.
Toubal says he is sent screenshots every day by people seeing hateful comments online. He’s felt less safe in recent years, noting a contributing factor is the rhetoric surrounding recent secularism laws in Quebec.
“This is a cultural centre, not just a prayer room,” he said. “We condemn all vandalism against any religious buildings.”
‘We don’t want this hate,’ says mayor
Toubal says while these are just windows, he’s worried about violence escalating. He noted the number of Muslims in the city is very small, at just about 2,000 people.
Recently, the centre installed cameras and limited access to the mosque’s doors. Toubal says it’s discouraging he might have to further increase security measures.
The mayor of Trois-Rivières, Jean-François Aubin, said this incident cannot be tolerated, highlighting the importance of co-existence.
“This is not Trois-Rivières … we don’t want this hate, this violence,” he said. “This is not representative of the population.”
He encouraged those who have information about the incident to come forward to the police.
Police aware of hateful online comments
This incident is being taken seriously, says Stéphanie Côté, spokesperson for the Trois-Rivières police.
She said police were called around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday and confirmed an investigation will be launched.
The police are aware of hateful remarks made online before this incident, she said, referring to those targeting the public prayer held in May.
At the time, organizers had contacted the Trois-Rivières police service before the event due to concerns.
The comments about the event appeared online after a local radio host shared a Facebook post advertising the gathering, which took place at the Trois-Rivières hippodrome.
The event itself was lawful and held on private property. According to Radio-Canada, about 200 people gathered peacefully for prayers marking Eid al-Adha, one of the most important holidays in Islam.
The Canadian Muslim Forum (CMF) denounced the vandalism in a statement Wednesday.
“This attack comes only weeks after a peaceful Eid al-Adha prayer gathering organized by the local Muslim community was met with hateful and violent online comments,” the statement says.
“These incidents reflect a troubling escalation of anti-Muslim hatred and highlight the urgent need to confront hate and Islamophobia in all its forms.”
The CMF notes the vandalism took place near the mosque’s “door of peace,” the main entrance which represents a place of welcome, faith and community.
“Targeting a community centre entrance is not only an act of vandalism, it is an attack on the safety, dignity and freedom of average Quebecers and Canadians,” the statement says, urging Canadians to take a stand against Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry.
