Members of a Windsor mosque were picking up the pieces following a break-in and burglary Tuesday that left a glass door shattered and cash missing from a lockbox.
“I ran right away to the mosque and saw that police were there,” said Hussein Dabaja, a co-owner of the Ahlul Bayt Mosque on Wyandotte Street East in Windsor. “I saw the glass all over and I saw that some things were missing.”
Tuesday’s break-in was the second such incident at the east-end mosque, Dabaja told the Star.
In April 2023, a suspect entered the building through an unlocked rear entrance and stole several hand tools. A 41-year-old man was later charged with theft under $5,000 after turning himself in to Windsor police.
“I want my people and my community to feel safe,” said Dabaja. “We’re going to do the best to make sure this never happens again.
“I hope police find who did this.”
The Windsor mosque recently drew criticism on social media after hosting a well-attended gathering last month to celebrate the slain leader of Hezbollah, an organization listed by Canada and other countries as a terrorist group.
The group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, 64, was targeted and killed in an Israel Defense Forces air strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in the Lebanese capital city of Beirut on Sept. 27.
Dabaja said the mosque has been facing threats on social media since hosting the event.
“Nasrallah is imam for us, you know, he is a religion,” Dabaja said. “We don’t believe the politics or the media and what they’re talking about him.
“He defended his country and he’s given a lot of things to our people. We respect that.”
Dabaja told the Star he is unsure whether the break-in was somebody targeting the mosque for political reasons or if it was just somebody looking for some cash.
“I told myself they’re not gonna come and do anything like that but you never know,” Dabaja said. “This happened before, so maybe somebody was looking for change or looking for stuff.”
A Windsor Police Service spokesperson told the Star the investigation is ongoing, but no further details were available ahead of Wednesday’s print deadline.
Earlier this month, a 15-year-old youth was arrested and charged in connection to a break-in at a Windsor Islamic high school in the 1600 block of Alexis Avenue on Oct. 3.
Surveillance footage at the scene showed three suspects causing about $13,000 in damages inside the school.
The suspect, who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was charged with break and enter, wearing a disguise with intent, mischief to property over $5,000, theft under $5,000 and failing to comply with terms of a previous court order.
Two additional suspects in the school break-in remain at large and police are asking for the public’s help to identify and locate them.
The first is described as a white male, between 16 and 18 years of age, with a faded haircut and dark beard.
He was wearing a sweater with white stripes along the sleeves, dark pants and black running shoes with white soles.
The second suspect is described as a white female between 16 and 18 years of age.
She wore glasses, a black zip-up sweater, black jogging pants with a white logo on the left leg and black running shoes.
She also carried a black drawstring bag with three white stripes.
Anyone with further information about this incident or the whereabouts of the outstanding suspects is encouraged to contact the Windsor Police Service target base unit at 519-255-6700 ext. 4350 or leave an anonymous tip with Windsor & Essex County Crime Stoppers at 519-258-8477 (TIPS) or online at www.catchcrooks.com.