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Hate Crime in Indiana

Lauren

Crap.

Let me reiterate that I live in Indiana, goddammit.

FBI agents and members of its Joint Terrorism Task Force are investigating a fire early today at a Bloomington mosque.

Officials at the Islamic Center of Bloomington said a window was broken at the center and a liquid accelerant was poured through the window to start the fire. Damage was minor.

“We are investigating and treating this incident as a hate crime,” FBI Special agent Wendy Osborne said today.

In addition, a burned Quran, Islam’s holy text, was found outside the mosque at 1925 East Atwater Avenue. A member of the mosque who happened to stop by the building discovered the fire and put it out.

Agents from the FBI’s Bloomington office along with agents from Indianapolis and members of the task force, made up of police officers from local police departments, will conduct a complete investigation, Osborne said.

Nathan Ainslie, president of the mosque’s executive board, called the incident an attack on all citizens of the city.

“We don’t believe this attack is representative of the Bloomington community,” he said.

Osborne declined to speculate whether the attack might have been a reaction to this week’s terrorist bombings in London, for which a previously unknown Islamic extremist group claimed credit.

Gee, I wonder if this is a reaction to the bombings in London, among other things. For the record, Bloomington is home to Indiana University and is one of the more liberal areas of the state.

via Aufheben
Somewhat related reading: Liberals in Klan Robes

17 thoughts on Hate Crime in Indiana

  2. Oh my God. Well, this is Indiana. When I lived in Alabama I made a habit of introducing myself as being from Chicago. Its something I still do. This place is so depressing.

  4. Pingback: aufheben » Blog Archive » firebombing of mosque in bloomington

  5. I went to IU, the students are good people. There is a nondenominational chapel on campus. One of my profs was a muslim, he told us about his month of fasting. I hate that this happened in Bloomington, it is a great city. Actually I miss IU, wish I was back there.

  6. Slightly off-topic, but I’ll second the sentiment on IU. Beautiful campus in a great town.

  7. I’ve been of the opinion that the rightwing is on the precipice of advocating apartheid and genocide when it comes to Muslims.

    They don’t want to understand what’s going on…because it’s too easy to live in their rhetorical narcotic induced stupor. Hell…Karl Rove debased the idea of “understanding” the terrorists in his little hate speech a few weeks ago.

    Ignorance is bliss..and these guys are shiny, happy people.

  8. Well, this is Indiana. When I lived in Alabama I made a habit of introducing myself as being from Chicago. Its something I still do. This place is so depressing.

    After 9/11, there were actually a bunch of anti-Muslim hate crimes in the Chicago area, including at least one firebombing of a Muslim community center. I’m not at all making excuses for anyone, but I wouldn’t assume that there’s anything uniquely bigoted about Indiana or that supposedly more-cosmopolitan places are immune from this kind of garbage.

    If you do want to make the point that the people who did this don’t speak for you, though, you might send a note to that effect to the mosque along with a small donation to put towards repairs. Or even just a note. The address is in the story Lauren quoted.

  9. Hate is a deep problem in all of American Culture… Here in NYC, what we like to think of as an island of liberal apart from the rest of America, we’ve had several serious hate crimes in the past month – most prominently the attack of a couple of black men in Howards Beach by a couple of white vigilantes who apparantly attacked just because they “knew” the black guys “didn’t belong” in their neighborhood. A few weeks prior a gay man was beaten into a coma and just about death after exhanging words with a gangbanger.

    Point is, even our liberal self-segregation doesn’t allow an escape from the problems of american culture – it’s everywhere. It’s not confined to a theoretical redneck other place, but to our homes, and our communities.

  11. What bullshit. Thank you for beating me to this; I really wasn’t looking forward to having to write about the utter, utter stupidity of our neighbors.

    This is pretty clearly connected to the earlier terrorist attacks, one would think. Indiana is not a hotbed of understanding or tolerance of religious diversity, even in its (moreso than other places in Indiana) diverse communities. I remember a year or two ago in this area — why am I being vague: is it that hard to guess? — the new sign at Hillel was torn down and IIRC, a brick was tossed through a window.

    Ugh. And I was at some forum regarding gay marriage and they had like: a Presbyterian, a Lutheran, a Catholic, and a Jew. Oh, and a Unitarian Universalist. And that was the melange of religion the organizers could stir up. Seriously. Ugh.

    I guess you didn’t save me the rant after all 🙂

  12. I live in Northwest Indiana, and there’s been a fair amount of coverage about the fire up here. However, I’ve got to say this–the IU campus is liberal. (We won’t get into the issue of black student enrollment numbers.) The Bloomington area in general, however, is so not. That area is the traditional Klan stronghold in Indiana. When we “drive down,” I always feel like I’m on an island of liberal-arts openmindedness surrounded by the rest of the state.

    I’m disappointed when people poo-poo being from Indiana or living in Indiana. It’s beautiful here, and mostly the people are great, though admittedly not known for being particularly liberal. Not everyone can come from NYC or Chicago or other metropolitan areas. And if you are, you know that people can suck in the city, too. Intolerance is a people issue, not a where-people-are-from issue.

  13. Firstly, I have to agree it is American Culture. I think it would be wise to adhre to the words of Malcolm X in assessing the state of this country and the extent to which this entire society is drenched in that which we would like to place solely at the feet of people living in places like Mississippi, Alabama, and Indiana. Also, I know, I know that there are good people everywhere and I have been nudged quite a bit to remove my nose from the air as far as places like Indiana and Alabama are concerned. However, I am still glad that I had a childhood where I went to museums everyweekend, attended plays, and had some modicum of culture…instead of a place where you get Indiana Beach and some b.s…..even though there are some good things here to. Still, I prefer the city.

  14. Indiana Beach, now that is a fun place!

    Indiana is conservative… I really hate voting here, but I like living here. People are good, for the most part. LOL, in most towns the churches outnumber the liquor stores by a large margin.

    You do have your assholes… I worked up in Starke County, and one of their better known residents was the self-proclaimed leader of the Indiana branch of KKK. That is, untill his wife gunned him down. LOL, and she was aquited at trial too. So there is hope for Indiana. If they won’t convict the murderer of the leader of KKK in Starke county, Indiana has a great chance!

    No place is perfect, and I love being a Hoosier. 😀

  15. Life in Indiana sucks sometimes. That it happened in Bloomington (one of the most liberal bastions in the state) indicates just how bad it sometimes is. (Martinsville or Jasper maybe, but Bloomington?) I second the above: Indiana IS a very good state to live in but I just wish some (okay, most) of the people here would get a clue!

  16. If I am remembering correctly, the governor of Indiana once said not too long ago that there were no gay people in Indiana. A gay male friend of mine from Indiana replied “of course not, we all leave”.

    I live in Chicago, the city which is the only reason Illinois isn’t as red as Indiana. Now, while we certainly are a nice liberal blue space where I can hold my gf’s hand, we definitely aren’t all that. We’ve had a number of attacks against gay men recently (they wait till it’s dark and take them when they are alone, fucking cowards) and don’t get me started on how insanely segregated this city is.

    Also, not long after I arrived here in this country, here in Chicago, just after 911 I got a friendly warning by a professor that cared about me, that it would be a good idea for me to keep my thoughts regarding what was happening to myself and not let it come through in the classes I was teaching, as he didn’t want something to happen to me.

    Further, we’ve got the interesting phenomenon of an influx of whites from the pearly-white suburbs, and a lot of them are bringing some really fucked up ideas about race down into the city (not that we are pristine mind you). I recently had to sit through the brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law of my best friend who now live in River North spouting off on all of the black people at the Taste and how they can’t control all the kids they tend to have.

    All I am saying here is that it isn’t just hicks-ville. There is something about American culture in general that is doing this. I’m not saying that other cultures aren’t intolerant of other races, but I’ve lived elsewhere and it’s not quite like this. It worries me personally too, being a foriegner, and I can’t count how many times I have been told as a foreigner here that I really shouldn’t complain if I am here to benefit from an education.

  17. All I am saying here is that it isn’t just hicks-ville. There is something about American culture in general that is doing this. I’m not saying that other cultures aren’t intolerant of other races, but I’ve lived elsewhere and it’s not quite like this. It worries me personally too, being a foriegner, and I can’t count how many times I have been told as a foreigner here that I really shouldn’t complain if I am here to benefit from an education.

    I have to agree with you Sarah, the problem is not isolated. Alas, I certainly don’t think that Chicago is utopia either. As an aside, I know what you mean about being “warned” about my views in the classroom, as I have recieved the same thing here at Purdue.

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