Community rallies around Bloomington mosque after imam assaulted on the way to prayer
Updated: 5:35 p.m. | Posted: 3:45 p.m.
An assault on an imam Thursday night has been a painful reminder of hateful incidents that his mosque has experienced in recent years.
Bloomington police are investigating the attack on the imam, Mohamed Mukhtar, who was walking to the nightly prayer service around 10 p.m. when two people approached and assaulted him outside of the Dar Al Farooq center.
Abdal Ali said immediately after the attack, he saw Mukhtar, who looked like he was in pain.
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“I said, ‘What happened, Imam?’” Ali said, who assumed Mukhtar simply fell. “He said, ‘Two white guys attacked me, and my shoes and my hat and my glasses are still in the street. Can you go get for me?’"
Bloomington police shared a press release Friday evening stating Mukhtar had described his attackers as a white man and a black man, both in their late teens or early twenties. Police say they’ve also determined the suspects had met up with two other men in a nearby area before the assault.
Mosque officials say the imam's shoulder was dislocated in the attack. He was treated at Fairview Southdale Hospital, according to police. No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.
The incident happened just one day after the mosque marked the third anniversary of another kind of attack. In 2017, a group of men drove from Illinois to bomb the mosque. One who pleaded guilty said they had hoped to scare Muslims out of the country.
Earlier this week, a federal judge again postponed the trial of the alleged Illinois militia leader accused of firebombing the mosque. The trial of 49-year-old Michael Hari, who is facing hate crime and explosives charges for the attack, has been pushed to November 2 because of the pandemic.
Dar Al Farooq’s executive director, Mohamed Omar, said the constant discrimination and hostilities toward the mosque has filled members with anxiety. Earlier this summer, Omar said, a man camped out near the mosque with a Confederate flag hanging on a tree. He left after a day.
“Every couple of months something happens,” he said. “You just cross your fingers that this time might not be a big mass shooting or might not be a big bomb.”
Last year, the mosque was the focus on an online video series produced by a right-wing social media website. The videos circulated conspiracy theories suggesting Muslims are in the country to impose Islamic law.
Worshipers became concerned when opponents in the neighborhood showed up to photograph or videotape young children playing in the playground nearby. It wasn't clear at the time how the footage would be used. The city responded by banning filming at the park.
The ordeal made it to federal court when a Bloomington woman sued the city, alleging the video ban violated her first amendment rights. A federal judge dismissed the case last month.
Neighbors and other supporters of the mosque gathered there Friday, as they have in recent months, to show their solidarity. Every Friday since the bombing, this group of mostly white residents has been standing outside Friday prayers to provide some sense of safety.
After hearing about the assault last night, about 50 showed up Friday.
“My reaction as a white person is not again. Not again,” said Karen Wills, one of the organizers. “Couldn't this just stop? This particular incident of a man having his shoulder fractured is just a ramped-up level of severity of the stuff that's just going on, day after day after day."