The Council on American Islamic Relations says it wants investigators looking into vandalism found at a Columbus area mosque on Friday to consider it a hate crime. The Columbus chapter of CAIR says surveillance video caught a man vandalizing the Ahlul Bayt Islamic Center on Columbus’ northwest side. CAIR-Columbus legal director Roman Iqbal said the man in a car painted with pro-Trump messages scrawled anti-Islamic graffiti on the mosque’s door. “It does appear that the vandal was motivated by anti-Muslim animus," Iqbal said. "So we are calling for this to be investigated as a hate crime.”
Iqbal said since the election, his group has seen an increase in the number of people reporting incidents. The group’s Facebook page notes that people who’ve seen the alleged vandal’s car have found pictures of its license plate.
