An investigation into a possible hate crime is being urged following the attack on a mosque in the US state of Washington.
The incident took place over the weekend just after midnight on Saturday, when a man threw rocks through the window of a mosque in Kent near Seattle, according to security camera footage.
"We call on local, state and national law enforcement authorities to investigate a possible bias motive for this attack, as the brazen acts depicted in the video are highly disturbing," said Imran Siddiqi, executive director of the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a .
This attack comes just a year and a half after the same mosque was robbed in the summer of 2023. It also comes amid a surge in reported bias attacks against Muslims and their institutions, following the outbreak of Israel's war in Gaza nearly a year and a half ago.
CAIR has asked mosques to follow their safety guidelines outlined in their "Best Practices for Mosque and Community Safety" booklet to increase safety at their institutions.
The Muslim civil rights group reports that from January to June 2024, there were 4,951 incoming bias complaints nationwide, a 69 percent increase over the same period the previous year.