Dayton Mosque Update- No Update

Dayton, Ohio


I previously reported on an alleged incident in Dayton, Ohio on September 26, in which it was reported that two men had approached a Dayton Mosque during a religious service and allegedly sprayed a chemical substance through a window and into a ten-year-old girl's face. The police were called, as well as HazMat but could find no trace of any chemical. At the time, The local Muslim community tied the incident to the recent distribution of the DVD, "Obsession", a video that they deemed Islamophobic. When I was alerted to the incident by one of my co-respondents, I thought it was appropriate to report on it and express my concern over any such possible attack.

The incident gained widespread publicity on the Internet and was labeled as a "Gas attack". In the blogosphere, blogs like Daily Kos quickly labeled it a hate crime. A blogger by the name of Chris Rodda, who contributes to Daily Kos, put out a piece about the incident decrying it as a hate crime in sensational terms under the headline:

"Muslim Children Gassed at Dayton Mosque After Obsession DVD Hits Ohio."

Below is one of her observations:

"....This, apparently, is what the scare tactic political campaigning of John McCain's supporters has led to -- Americans perpetrating a terrorist attack against innocent children on American soil."


As the incident was widely disseminated throughout the blogosphere, other observers suspected it was a hoax designed to manufacture a phony hate crime.

In the days following the incident, the investigation seemed to go nowhere. The Dayton police announced that they did not consider it a hate crime. As the search for the suspects went on, it was reported that a can of pepper spray had been found somewhere not far from the mosque. Then it was reported that police had found the pepper spray inside the mosque in a carry-bag.

It seems the last thing that has been reported is that a ten-year-old boy, whose parents belong to the mosque, was being questioned by the police.

Last week, I sent a query to Dayton Daily News reporter Lucas Sullivan, who has been covering the case. This was my second such query-Mr Sullivan has been gracious enough to answer both my queries. On this second occasion, he informed me that there was no new information. The websites of the Dayton Mosque and CAIR have no mention of the incident.

So where does this take us? I suppose forensic tests may still reveal something, but at this point, I strongly suspect that there was no hate crime committed by outside persons. It could be that a couple of kids got a hold of a can of pepper spray and the girl got sprayed by another kid.

My point, however, is this; the public-especially in Dayton- needs to know what did or did not happen. If there is an innocent explanation, that needs to be revealed. If there are a couple of crazies out there who sprayed a girl with a chemical substance, hopefully, they will be captured. If, however, this was a manufactured hoax on the part of someone connected with the mosque, then that has to come out as well. It will not do for the city to simply let this thing die a quiet death since there has been a host of accusations thrown out about a hate crime being committed. The citizens of Dayton especially have a right to know the truth.