COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two Columbus mosques received profanity-laced threatening phone calls this week in which the caller referred to Islam as a “fairy-tale religion,” called Muslims “garbage” and “scum,” and said they will be “vaporized.”
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
The calls, made on Tuesday, originated from the same Columbus phone number, Romin Iqbal, staff attorney at the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the Columbus Dispatch.
The council, or CAIR, released audio of two calls made to the Omar Ibn El-Khattab Mosque on the Northwest Side. The caller, at times unintelligible, repeatedly swore and used racial slurs.
CAIR would not name the second mosque, Iqbal said.
“Naturally, the threat is worrying, not just due to the content but also the timing,” said Basil Mohamed Gohar, president of the board of directors at the Omar mosque, where about 500 people worship on Fridays.
“In light of the many incidents of violence against Muslims, and even those that people think are Muslims … we no longer have the liberty to just brush these off as ramblings or idle threats.”
Of particular concern was the caller saying, “Religion is the problem. Lose your religion or lose everything,” Gohar said.
CAIR contacted Columbus police and will request extra security at the mosques, Iqbal said. Sgt. Rich Weiner confirmed that the threats had been reported.