March 24 – Police are investigating a fire at a Southern California mosque on Sunday as a possible arson and hate crime after fresh graffiti on the driveway mentioned the mass shootings at two mosques in New Zealand, local media reported.
Police and firefighters were called to the Islamic Center of Escondido – north of San Diego – at about 3:15 a.m. (10:15 GMT) on Sunday about a fire that blackened an outside wall, The San Diego Tribune and other media reported.
Congregants at the center smelled smoke, spotted the fire and put it out before it caused serious damage before firefighters arrived, media reported.
But on the mosque's driveway, police found fresh graffiti that referenced the March 15 shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that left 50 people dead and others seriously injured from a gunman who published a hate-filled manifesto on social media, police told the press.
Yusef Miller – a spokesman for the Islamic community in Escondido – told the Tribune that people at mosques across the region need to remain vigilant.
"Everyone is on edge," he told the paper. "When they connected it to New Zealand, it gave us more of a mortal fear that something outlandish might happen."