Explosive set off outside Islamic Center of Olympia
Community groups are standing with the Islamic Center of Olympia Friday after someone set off an explosion there last month.
Surveillance video released by the Council on American Islamic Relations — or CAIR —shows a car slow down in front of the building and something drops from the window, which then explodes as the car speeds off.
The incident happened Nov. 23 at 11:23 p.m. People living as far as two miles away reported hearing the explosion.
“There have been protests with people outside the mosque with hateful banners, screaming just hateful vitriolic things just as a show of like disrespect to the community. I’m not saying it’s tied into this specific attack, but there’s this sense of impunity when it comes to islamophobia in this country. It’s almost as if there’s a sense that, ‘if I express anti Muslim bigotry, if I express some violent rhetoric toward Muslims, I’m not going to get punished for it,’” executive director of CAIR Washington Imraan Siddiqi said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/olympics/explosive-set-off-outside-islamic-center-of-olympia/ar-AARqPg9
Worshippers believe blast outside Thurston County mosque meant to cause fear
OLYMPIA, Wash. (KOMO) — A blast outside of a Thurston County mosque rattled homes and has many worshippers believing the explosion caught on camera was meant to stir fear.
But as of Thursday night investigators don’t believe it was a targeted attack.
Security cameras outside of the Islamic Center of Olympia show a silver car driving around the building Nov. 23 when it appears the driver throws something out of the window with a fuse burning and then moments later, it explodes. The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said it was a firework of some kind with no indications it was a device or bomb.
Some reportedly heard it from more than a mile away. Amroun Les lives just across the street from the mosque’s front entrance.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/worshippers-believe-blast-outside-thurston-county-mosque-meant-to-cause-fear/ar-AARpNW6