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Calls For a Federal Case

After Tuesday's early-morning vandalism outside a Landsale mosque - a Hatboro man allegedly fired dozens of shots into two parked cars - a national Islamic civil rights group is calling for federal charges.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) notes that Robert Blackburn, 53, was charged with ethnic intimidation after allegedly using a .22-caliber rifle to cause more than $5,000 in damages shortly before 4 a.m. Tuesday. He was also charged with criminal mischief, firearms violations, misdemeanor charges of recklessly endangering another person, and disorderly conduct. He's being being held in Montgomery County prison on $50,000 bail; a preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 18.

The cars were owned by a religious leader and a member of the North Penn mosque.

In a news release, CAIR noted that a man recently shouted such religious slurs as "dirty Arabs" and "raghead" at a Muslim family driving near Blue Bell. "Only traffic charges were filed against the alleged assailant, despite requests to probe the apparent bias motive for the attack," the Council contends.

Omar
Posted 11/13/2005 12:25:38 AM
Funny how there is no comments about this one.  Arab-Americans have not yet attained "minority" status in this country, and it seems the government is all too willing to trample their civil rights.  When the government takes such a position, bigotry seems acceptable to the general public.  Five Muslims were questioned and dispersed for gathering in an area that was open to the public at a NY Giants game two weeks ago.  At the same game, an man of Indian descent was held for questioning for merely snapping some photographs from his seat.  The media coverage of these types of incidents is minimal.  We are creating second class citizens, and it is not acceptable.  Where are our hallowed "American" values?
Daniel Rubin
Posted 11/13/2005 08:13:26 AM
Fair question. I'm not sure you can blame the topic for a lack of comments, though. I've been writing this blog for nearly 6 months, and so far a lack of comment might mean it was written in a way that didn't invite response. This one was pretty straight-forward - newsy - and maybe that is part of the silent treatment. Still, you make a challenging point.