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NYPD Hate Crimes Unit Investigating Raw Bacon Ramadan Incident
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 21, 2012
Modified Aug 21, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 21, 2012
Modified Aug 21, 2012
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The NYPD is investigating a raw bacon incident on Staten Island as a bias crime. Early Sunday morning, organizers of an outdoor end-of-Ramadan ceremony in New Dorp Beach found strips of raw bacon on the field where Muslims were gathering. (The Koran prohibits Muslims from eating pork products.) "This has been determined to be a bias event on the part of our Hate Crimes Task Force," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters yesterday. "On a website associated with this celebration was some derogatory comments and at the site itself, three packages of raw bacon were found."
The NYPD did not disclose the name of the website, but NY1 reports that the comments included declarations such as, "I am going to walk my pet pig and I am gonna let him take a nice, fat dump ....just in time for morning prayers." Another reads, "They should send in an assault team and rid Staten Island of all the Muslim terrorists." The NYPD is also investigating a hateful comment posted on an SILive.com preview story about the Ramadan event.
"That comment, unfortunately, is not isolated; if you go to many articles across the country that talk about Muslim community events you'll notice the comment section looks like that," Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) executive director Muneer Awad tells the Staten Island Advance. "The recent surge in acts of bigotry and hatred is directly linked to the words of elected officials, and those running for office, who have used anti-Muslim bigotry as a campaign strategy."
The bacon incident and accompanying hate speech is the latest in a string of alleged hate crimes across the country. Earlier this month a mosque was burned to the ground in Missouri, an air rifle was fired at a mosque in Illinois, and a Muslim school was vandalized days later in the same state.
Tagged
bacon
bias crime
hate crime
islam
muslim
pork
Ramadan
Ray Kelly
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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