Muslim advocates praise hate crime investigation into Agoura Hills incident
Southern California's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization is praising the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for a hate crime investigation into an incident in Agoura Hills last year.
On Sept. 28, 2024, a man 'aggressively pounded on the victim's front door, caused damage to the door, & made threatening, racially charged statements' at a home in the 30400 block of Passageway Place, the LASD said.
Investigators tied those threats and racist statements to 'a Palestinian flag displayed in an upstairs window' of the home.
Man damaged Agoura Hills home's door, made racist statement in alleged hate crime: LASD
On Wednesday, the Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, aka CAIR-LA, released a statement 'welcom[ing] a hate crime investigation.'
'No one should face harassment or threats simply for displaying a flag that represents their identity or their call for justice,' CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said in a statement.
Ayloush added that they believe the incident is part of a 'broader rise in anti-Palestinian hate and Islamophobia aimed at silencing voices calling for an end to Israel's genocide in Gaza and brutal occupation of indigenous Palestinian land.'
'We must remain vigilant in opposing all forms of hate and ensure our communities can safely express their identities and stand up for justice and human rights,' Ayloush explained. 'We commend the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for investigating this incident as a hate crime and urge full accountability for the perpetrator.'
Investigators are still searching for that perpetrator, who is about 30 years old.
During the incident, he was wearing a white shirt and black pants. He also wears glasses, according to images provided by the LASD.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Aquino at 818-878-1808.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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USA Today
16 minutes ago
- USA Today
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Investigators say he confessed and remains unrepentant, telling them he deliberately targeted the marchers because he considered them a "Zionist Group." Divisions continue after Pearl Street attack Amid the extreme positions on the Israel-Hamas war, Run for their Lives believed most people could get behind their message. The national Run for their Lives organization has sponsored walks or runs in hundreds of cities and towns since Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust in which over 1,000 people were killed and 240 were taken hostage. As of June 5, 56 hostages are still being held by Hamas, although that number includes both the living and presumed dead. On June 1, as she had dozens of times in the past, Turnquist was pushing her Australian shepherd Jake in a stroller as the group made its way past the historic Boulder County Courthouse on Pearl Street pedestrian mall. 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