close
close
orange

The FBI charges the man with federal crime

Vaseline

play

SOMERVILLE, NJ – A New Jersey man has been charged with a federal hate crime for breaking into Rutgers University’s Center for Islamic Life over the Eid-al-Fitr holiday and causing approximately $40,000 in damages, the department announced of Justice announced on Monday.

Jacob Beacher, who has no ties to Rutgers, was arrested Monday and charged with one count of intentional or attempted obstruction of religious practice and one count of making false statements to federal authorities, the Justice Department said.

Rutgers University police responded to the incident at approximately 4:30 a.m. on April 10. Officers found broken windows and a television, broken printers, vandalized artwork and plaques with Quranic verses, and a Palestinian flag torn from the pole in the lobby. , said Chaplain Kaiser Aslam. The Justice Department alleged that Beacher, 24, stole a Palestinian flag and a charity box belonging to the center.

The building was vandalized on the first day of Eid al-Fitr, or the “Feast of Breaking the Fast,” a three-day holiday that follows the fasting month of Ramadan.

“The community is shocked because it is our home on campus,” Aslam said after the incident. “It’s a safe place for many of our students.”

The hate crime indictment announced Monday is the latest development in light of rising hostilities against Muslims in the United States. Civil rights advocates have denounced a record spike in Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian incidents since Israel’s war in Gaza began six months ago.

Reported hate crimes in 25 U.S. cities increased by an average of 17% last year compared to 2022, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University.

FBI: Surveillance footage shows burglary

An affidavit filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in federal court says surveillance video showed Beacher walking to the back door of the Center for Islamic Life at about 2:41 a.m. on April 10. He then allegedly broke a window of the door, pushed through a piece of Plexiglass and manually opened the door from the inside by reaching through the broken glass to release a deadbolt, the affidavit said.

At about 3:05 a.m., Beacher left the building through the back door and less than a minute later, video surveillance showed him walking through the area around the Rutgers Student Center, about 75 to 100 feet from the Center for Islamic Life, according to the affidavit. . About five minutes later he got on his bike and headed towards Buccleuch Park.

Based on a review of all video surveillance in the area, Beacher was the only person seen near the Center for Islamic Life between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m., the affidavit said.

On April 14, two people reported to authorities that they had found a donation box belonging to the Center for Islamic Life on the east side of Buccleuch Park, the affidavit said, and Beacher’s records showed his cell phone was on. the east side of Buccleuch Park shortly after the burglary. On April 12, the FBI questioned Beacher in North Plainfield, New Jersey.

Beacher admitted he was the person on video surveillance of the area but denied breaking into the center, the affidavit said.

Civil rights group calls for increased protections

The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations urged Rutgers administrators to act urgently to protect Muslim, Palestinian and allied students.

“Muslim, Palestinian and allied students on college campuses are facing an increase in bigoted attacks, especially as they advocate for Palestinian liberation,” the organization said in a statement after the arrest. “The destruction of the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University, where a Palestinian flag flew, is an example of such intolerant violence.”

Tensions over the war have become a flashpoint at Rutgers University, with frequent protests on campus, accusations of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and a push for the university to rid itself of military and security companies that do business with Israel.

“We are humbled by the amazing and generous outpouring from the Rutgers community and the community at large,” the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers said in a statement after the arrest. “These outpourings of support from outright donations, in-kind donations to replace stolen and damaged items, flowers, balloons, phone calls and emails have been overwhelming and encouraging. We are grateful and appreciative.”

The FBI led the investigation with assistance from the District Attorney’s Office, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Rutgers University Police Department. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are pending, according to university police, who asked anyone with information to contact the detective bureau.

Anti-Muslim hate incidents in the US

According to CAIR, Islamophobic incidents have reached record levels in recent months. The civil rights organization said it received more than 8,000 complaints in 2023 — the most in its 30-year history — with nearly half of the complaints coming in the last three months of the year.

In the 2023 CAIR report, the organization said that “the main force behind this wave of increased Islamophobia was the escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine in October 2023.”

CAIR tracked 8,061 complaints in 2023, breaking the previous record of just over 6,700 in 2021. Complaints include immigration and asylum cases, employment discrimination, education discrimination and hate crimes and incidents.

The American Civil Liberties Union has tracked dozens of anti-mosque incidents across the country since 2005. Mosques tend to be busier on Ramadan nights, when Muslims gather in a communal prayer known as Tarawih, and they also gather on Eid for special prayer and festivities.

Earlier this month, a man was charged with felony vandalism as a hate crime after he allegedly broke several windows of the Masjid Al-Tawheed Mosque, This is reported by the Public Prosecution Service in San Francisco. In Chicago, police are investigating a possible hate crime after a man followed several women into the Downtown Islamic Center and shouted anti-Muslim rhetoric, NBC Chicago reported.

Contributing: Krystal Nurse, USA TODAY; Hannan Adely, Bergen Record

Related Posts