Islamic Center of Tucson Security

On March 13th at 3:30AM, the Islamic Center of Tucson (ICT) was broken into and vandalized. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Our camera footage has lead us to believe that the sole intention of this individual was to damage the center's religious property and to send all of us a message of hate. The vandal, who is still at large, destroyed and threw several copies the holy Qu’ran all over the mosque’s floors. This was in addition to damaging several doors that he attempted to break into.

The vandal’s intentions were clear, and it served as a painful reminder that we are living an era where hate crimes are not uncommon.

This incident has served as a wake-up call to all of us. The security at the ICT is currently being upgraded in order to prevent further hate crimes from targeting the Islamic Center in the future. However, it goes without saying, that these increased security measures have financial costs associated with them.  

We are asking the community for their continued support in maintaining the safety of the Islamic Center and its members.

There are several security measures that we intend to do with these funds, including:

·        Upgrading the alarm system

·        Repairing the doors that were damaged during the incident

·        Upgrading our door reinforcements  

·        Upgrading our camera surveillance

·        Upgrading our night lighting

·        Security guard during peak hours

 

The following below are news reports and posts regarding the incident.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tucson-mosque-qurans_us_58c84983e4b022994fa2d3bb

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/34837845/vandal-breaks-into-islamic-center-of-tucson-destroys-copies-of-quran

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-breaking/2017/03/14/vandal-breaks-into-islamic-center-tucson-rips-up-religious-texts/99174200/

http://www.kvoa.com/story/34848499/police-searching-for-vandal-who-broke-into-islamic-center-of-tucson