Norfolk mosque vandalized with black crosses painted on building

The Masjid Ash-Shura mosque on Colley Avenue in Norfolk was vandalized between Sunday night and Monday morning, with a series of black crosses spray-painted on the side of the building, but a group of volunteers quickly came together to help clean up the mosque.

Police have video showing a man drawing a cross between Sunday evening and Monday morning and then stopping to smoke a cigarette while looking directly at security cameras, according to longtime member Amin Mohamed.

Norfolk police could not be reached for comment Monday. At noon, a group of about 10 volunteers, including members of the mosque and members of a nearby church, came out to help clean up.

“We appreciate what you did to stand up with us,” Mohamed said. “It’s sad to see vandalism and things like that for no reason.”

“They came real fast, man,” he continued. “It was so nice, it makes us feel like we belong in the community.”

Gabe Harrell, who was among the volunteers, said he saw the photo of the destroyed building on Reddit and shared it with others who participated.

“I view this as a form of terrorism in the strictest sense, which is intended to create fear and intimidation because of a person’s practice of their religion, which is something that everyone in the United States should be doing, regardless of religion, as long as it doesn’t harm other people,” Harrell said. “It was like you were looking at this thing that came from the deep south in the 1930s – it was really quite spooky.”

The group washed off most of the black paint, but cleaned it so thoroughly that cross shapes were left on the wall, so they will return Wednesday to repaint the building, Harrell said.