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Drunk Man Pees On Prayer Rugs At Queens Mosque


By

Jen Chung

Published Aug 26, 2010

Modified Aug 26, 2010


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By

Jen Chung

Published Aug 26, 2010

Modified Aug 26, 2010


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If it's not a drunken man allegedly stabbing a cabbie because he's Muslim, then it's a drunken man entering a Queens mosque and urinating on its prayer rugs. Last night, at the Al-Iman Mosque on Steinway Street, an apparently intoxicated man stormed in and "shouted anti-Muslim slurs as he urinated on prayer rugs," the Post reports. Naturally, that interrupted the evening prayers.

According to witnesses, Omar Rivera was shouting slurs and calling the worshippers "terrorists." One told the Post, "He stuck up his middle finger and cursed at everyone... No one can pray now because the rugs are completely soiled. It was disgusting... He calls us terrorists, yet he comes into our mosque and terrorizes other people... This is a true hate crime."

Rivera was eventually subdued and held in a back room until police arrived. He was charged with criminal trespass.

Tagged

crime

criminal trespass

desecration

islamophobia

mosque

prayer rug

queens


Jen Chung

Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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