BOSTON — The Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling on law enforcement to investigate a possible hate crime Tuesday.
According to CAIR, the word “Nazis” was recently discovered spray-painted on a sign for the Islamic Seminary of Boston and the Palestinian Cultural Center for Peace on Quint Avenue.
CAIR-MA Executive Director Tahirah Amatul-Wadud denounced the act of vandalism.
“We urge state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate this disturbing incident as a hate crime,” said Amatul-Wadud in a statement. “All Americans, whatever their faith or ethnicity, should be free from acts of intimidation and hate.”
Tuesday night a Boston Police cruiser was standing guard as the civil rights unit has taken over the case. And news of what happened has quickly spread through the neighborhood.
“The sheer ignorance and hatefulness of something like this hits close to home,” said a woman who lives nearby the center. “As a fellow Allston-ite, as a Jew and someone who prays for the liberation of all peoples, I wanted to express my own sorrows that you were targeted in such an ignorant and racist fashion.”
A spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office told Boston 25 News that no one has been arrested yet but the incident seems to fit the criteria for hate crime consideration.
Boston police is investigating the incident.
On Tuesday, CAIR’s national office in Washington, D.C., urged houses of worship and human rights activists engaging in protests regarding the ongoing Israel-Palestentian conflict to take security precautions.
Israel’s military said that it had regained effective control over its south and the border with the Gaza Strip four days after Hamas fighters stormed into the country and brought gunbattle to its streets for the first time in decades.
A combined death toll of both people in Israel and Palestinians in Gaza has climbed to nearly 2,000.
[ Israel-Hamas war: At least 14 Americans among those killed, Biden says (Live updates) ]
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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