A 40-year-old Santa Ana man faces vandalism charges with a hate-crime enhancement for allegedly throwing paint on a window of a Westminster mosque earlier this week, authorities said on Friday, April 1.
On Wednesday, March 30, a witness at the Al Noor Foundation Mosque, in the 14500 block of Goldenwest Street, saw a man attempting to break a window at the worship center. The suspect, authorities say, hit the front door with a gallon can of paint and threw some paint at a window.
The suspect was found by Westminster police walking near the worship center with paint on his clothes and at least one hand, said Kimberly Edds, a spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
The suspect told the officer, Edds said, that the God of the mosque worshippers had showed a lack of respect for his God.
The announcement of the charges was made on the first day of Ramadan, a month of fasting, prayer and reflection.
“Those celebrations must be able to go on uninterrupted and without the fear of someone trying to deface a house of worship,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.
The suspect faces felony counts of vandalism of $400 or more and vandalism of a place of worship with the purpose of intimidation with a hate crime enhancement, and a misdemeanor count of violation of civil rights, Edds said. He was being held in jail without bail.
Source: Orange County Register
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