Update on Dayton Mosque Incident

I am posting an article from today's Dayton Daily News, which gives an update on the recent incident in Dayton, in which a 10-year-old girl was allegedly sprayed by some some chemical irritant inside a local mosque during evening prayers. (Hat tip to Denny in Dayton for alerting me to the latest news.)


Police: Can of pepper spray was found inside mosque
Police have interviewed a 10-year-old boy about the incident, in which a girl, 10, was sprayed in the face.
Poll: Is there anti-Islamic sentiment in America?
More on this story from our archives
By Lucas Sullivan

Staff Writer

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

"DAYTON — The can of pepper spray found four days after someone sprayed a 10-year-old girl in the face at a local mosque was discovered inside the mosque, a Dayton police lieutenant said.

The girl said she was sprayed about 9:40 p.m. Sept. 26 through an open basement window of the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton, Lt. John Huber said.

The girl told police one of two men outside the basement window sprayed her with something from a white can with a red top as she watched children whose parents and relatives had gathered at the mosque to celebrate Ramadan.

A can of pepper spray was found Sept. 30 in another room in the basement inside a red and white-striped bag, Huber said. He said it was initially reported to him that the can was found near the mosque, but he later learned it was inside the mosque.

Police have interviewed a 10-year-old boy about the incident. The boy and his family are members of the mosque. Police are not ruling out that someone inside the mosque sprayed the girl, Huber said.

Chief Richard Biehl has said there is no evidence the girl was the victim of a hate crime.

She and another woman were taken to local hospitals after feeling nauseous, according to police.

A few of the 300 people celebrating the last 10 days of Ramadan with dinner and a prayer session were treated for eye irritation at the scene.

The bag and can are being checked for fingerprints by the FBI, Huber said. The FBI has also taken the girl's clothes to determine if there are any chemicals that match what was in the can. HAZMAT crews found no traces of chemicals in the mosque or on the girl.

The incident happened days after the DVD "Obsession: Radical Islam's War With the West," was circulated in a paid advertisement in the Dayton Daily News and other newspapers across the country.

Islamic Society of Greater Dayton President Dr. Tarek Sabagh said the DVD created an atmosphere of "fear" among Muslims, but said he was not sure it was related to the incident at his mosque.

Sabagh said on Sept. 30 that he would not talk about the incident again until the police investigation is completed."

Fousesquawk comment: Pending a final report by Dayton police, we still don't know what happened. The fact that pepper spray was found in a bag inside the mosque would cast serious doubt on the idea that outside figures carried out an attack, but we'll let the facts play out.