Surrey police release photo of mosque vandalism suspect

Surrey police are seeking the public’s help identifying a man suspected of writing threatening and offensive messages on the outside of a local mosque.

The Surrey Police Service released photographs of the suspect and his vehicle Wednesday. Police believe the vandalism occurred between 11 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28, and 10 a.m. the following day. The RCMP Surrey Provincial Operations Support Unit was called to the Fleetwood Islamic Academy Society on Aug. 29. Investigators say surveillance video captured the suspect before the incident.

Police describe him as wearing a dark green hoodie with red lettering on the front, dark cargo pants and red shoes with white soles. He was carrying a blue bag and is believed to have been driving a small white four-door sedan. In the released photograph, his face appears covered by a bandana or mask, and the hoodie appears to read “Calgary.”

SPS said threatening and offensive language was written on the exterior of the building and what is believed to be animal meat was placed near the centre’s doors and windows. Statements from the mosque and the National Council of Canadian Muslims, amplified Tuesday by B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma, identified the meat as bacon and included photographs of messages reading “Islam has no place in Canada,” “Get out or die,” and “Islam is trash.”

Police say they are determining the circumstances of the incident, including whether hate was a motivating factor. The National Council of Canadian Muslims and Sharma described the vandalism as hate-motivated and Islamophobic. SPS said the RCMP takes reports of hate-motivated incidents and hate crimes seriously and investigators will work to establish all the facts.

Anyone who can identify the man or has dash-cam footage of the incident is asked to call 604-599-0502 and quote file number 26-27049 (SU).