Lawmen address York County Muslims’ concerns

The FBI and the York County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday reassured residents and worshipers of Holy Islamville of their protections under the law, and discussed ways to bridge the gaps between the Muslim community and non-Muslims.

Much of the discussion dealt with concerns raised after the murders of nine parishioners at a historically black church in Charleston last month, allegedly at the hands of a white supremacist.

Sayeed Shakir, mayor of Islamville, said Tuesday’s discussion was part of a working relationship their community has with the FBI to help foster relationships and outreach with the larger York County community.

Special Agent Devon Mahoney explained that the FBI only gets involved in cases involving a violation of federal law. As an example, he cited the designation of the Charleston church shooting as a hate crime.

“That type of crime is an FBI crime,” he said. “If you’re out at the store or out in Rock Hill and someone assaults you because of your religion, that would be something the FBI would be concerned with, and we would get involved.”

Increasing hostility

Several people in attendance Tuesday said they’ve noticed instances of hostility toward Muslims increasing.

“Recently now, it’s heightened,” one woman said. “It’s all the time now, we go out and about and somebody is going to either say something, give us the finger, yell something out the window or even corner you in Wal-Mart and give you that, ‘Yeah, just try it’ look.”

Detective Bob Hamilton of the York County Sheriff’s Office said they want people to report all incidents, even those that don’t seem major. Information such as tag numbers or descriptions of the person or vehicle can help investigators.

“That gives me an idea of who may be a problem later,” Hamilton said. “And if something does come up that is major, I go back in my file and see who was causing problems initially and then go out and talk with them.”

Mahoney said people who commit crimes usually go through a progression before their activity becomes criminal. That’s why, he said, it’s important to report even the small things.

“Someone just doesn’t wake up one morning and commit a crime,” he said. “Usually something happens and it gets worse and worse, and it builds up to them actually doing something bad. If you have a car that comes by once and we don’t know about it, then it comes by twice and we don’t know about it, then three times and we don’t know about it – if we knew about that first time, Bob and I can do some investigation and look at this person’s background. This is someone who maybe has a criminal history of violence.”

Active-shooter briefings

The FBI has begun a series of active-shooter briefings to better prepare houses of worship for a situation like the one that unfolded in Charleston last month.

The first briefing was held Monday in Aiken. Officials were expecting 100 church leaders, but close to 800 showed up, according to Denise Taiste, public affairs coordinator for the FBI’s Columbia field office.

Similar briefings are planned for Charleston, Greenville and Myrtle Beach, but Mahoney said they are open to holding a briefing either for the Holy Islamville community or a larger one for all York County houses of worship.

Taiste said the FBI and local law enforcement have enjoyed good relationships with the residents of Holy Islamville, and she hopes that relationship will serve as an example to other communities.

“We’re all still people, and we need to respect each other for our beliefs, our culture and yet learn,” she said. “We’re hoping to build this relationship with this community, as well as work with each other to broaden it and involve other communities.”

Jacqueline Shakir said people too often align all Muslims with the extremists seen in news reports who carry out violent acts – purportedly in the name of Islam.

“Other people who say they are Muslim, they’re just murdering things,” she said. “They look at us like it’s us. After today, doors are opened for us to hopefully resolve some of these issues.”

This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 7:38 AM with the headline "Lawmen address York County Muslims’ concerns."