Surrey police are asking the public for help identifying a man suspected of writing “threatening and offensive” messages on the outside of a local mosque. The Surrey Police Service shared a photo of the man and his vehicle in a news release Wednesday, saying the vandalism is believed to have occurred sometime between 11 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28 and 10 a.m. the following day. Members of the RCMP Surrey Provincial Operations Support Unit were called to the Fleetwood Islamic Academy Society on Saturday, Aug. 29, to investigate the incident, police said. They said the suspect was seen on video surveillance before the incident occurred. Investigators described the man as “wearing a dark green hoodie with red lettering on the front, dark cargo pants and red shoes with white soles.” He was carrying a blue bag and police believe he was driving a small, white four-door sedan. In the photo, the suspect’s face appears to be covered with a bandana or mask, and his hoodie appears to say “Calgary.” The SPS release takes a notably cautious tone in describing the vandalism and the investigation. It refers to “threatening and offensive language written on the exterior of the building” and “what is believed to be animal meat placed near doors and windows of the centre.” Statements from the mosque and the National Council of Canadian Muslims that were amplified on social media by B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma on Tuesday identified the meat as bacon and included photos of the messages, which read “Islam has no place in Canada,” “Get out or die,” and “Islam is trash.” Despite this, the SPS release says it is working “to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident,” including “whether hate was a motivating factor.” The NCCM statement and Sharma’s post referred to the vandalism as hate-motivated and Islamophobic. “The RCMP takes all reports of hate-motivated incidents and hate crimes seriously,” the SPS statement reads. “Investigators are committed to conducting a thorough investigation to establish all the facts.” Police asked anyone with information about the man’s identity or dash-cam video of the incident to contact them at 604-599-0502 and quote file number 26-27049 (SU).
