Police: Torched Koran a hate crime

Costa Mesa police are considering the case of a burnt Koran found last week outside the Islamic Education Center of Orange County as a hate crime, police officials said Friday.

About noon New Year’s Day, an education center member found a copy of Islam’s holy text torched and lying open in the center’s parking lot. A member of the center’s board said most took it as a hateful message.

Even though there are no leads and no suspects, detectives are treating it as a hate crime, said Sgt. Frank Rudisill.

“It reassures the community that police are taking it seriously,” said center board member Fatma Saleh.

Police Chief Chris Shawkey and Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens met with the center’s leader, Imam Sayed Moustafa Al-Qazwini, and others Thursday. According to a statement on the education center’s website, Qazwini and members of the center were encouraged with how authorities are handling the investigation and finding ways to resolve future hate crimes against Muslims.

Of course, if police did receive more information or identify a suspect, that could change how the incident is handled, Rudisill said.

While police may be handling it as a criminal matter, Rudisill said, prosecutors at the Orange County district attorney’s office are considering it a “hate incident.”

A hate incident is defined by the Orange County Human Relations Commission as an action or behavior fueled by hate, but protected by the 1st Amendment right to free expression. These types of incidents do not step on the individual rights of others, according to the commission’s 2007 hate crime report.

The torched Koran was one of two incidents recently targeting Muslims. A Muslim exhibit at an interfaith display in Mission Viejo last month was also vandalized, while all other religions’ displays at that location were untouched.

Costa Mesa reported two hate crimes in 2008, according to the latest FBI figures.