Man charged after threatening worshippers at Masjid Taqwa mosque
Worshipers at a Brisbane mosque that has previously been the target of a graffiti attack were allegedly threatened by a man who entered the building on Sunday morning and claimed to have a gun outside.
Kambiz Koshan, director of Masjid Taqwa mosque in Bald Hills, said the man approached worshipers shortly before 11am and told them he had an AK-47 in his car outside the building.
Worshipers pushed the man away from the Telegraph Road mosque and called police, Koshan said.
Police later tracked down a 33-year-old Mitchelton man who was charged with one count each of public nuisance and disturbance of a place of worship.
He will appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on May 22.
“The Queensland Police Service treats any threats to cultural and religious communities extremely seriously,” police said in a statement on Monday morning.
“Everyone in Queensland has the right to feel safe and not to be threatened or victimised. QPS urges anyone who feels threatened or frightened by the actions of others to contact the police.”
In an unrelated incident, in December the Bald Hills mosque was targeted by vandals following the Bondi Beach terror attack, who sprayed the building with swastikas and the words “f— Allah” and “No to Muslims = peace”.
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