Vandalism at NYU Islamic prayer room under investigation as hate crime

The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating an act of vandalism reported earlier this week at an Islamic prayer space at New York University.

The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating an act of vandalism reported earlier this week at an Islamic prayer space at New York University.

A student who entered the space inside the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library on Thursday afternoon said they found "urine and obscene, lewd images defacing the walls," according to a statement from Faiyaz Jaffer, the associate chaplain of Global Spiritual Life at the university.

"This was not simply an act of vandalism; it was a malicious and deeply disrespectful attack driven by anti-Muslim hatred," Jaffer said in the statement.

The vandalism coincides with the Trump administration's efforts to deport international students and scholars, some of whom are Muslim and have expressed support for Palestinian human rights amid the war in Gaza, including Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk.

Pictures posted to the Instagram account of NYU's Black Muslim Initiative show the vandalism, which appears to include a large drawing of a phallus. Another image shows what appears to be a wet stain near Islamic prayer mats.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/vandalism-nyu-islamic-prayer-room-hate-crime-rcna199832

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