A San Francisco man suspected of vandalizing a Nob Hill mosque was arrested Wednesday evening while visiting the scene of his alleged crime for the second time in as many days.
Robert Gray, 35, a San Francisco resident, was charged with one felony count of vandalism with damage over $400 and one misdemeanor count of violating civil rights by damaging other property. He is currently incarcerated in a county jail.
Neither Gray nor a representative could be reached for comment.
San Francisco police officers responded to a call from worshipers at the Masjid al-Tawheed mosque around 7:55 p.m. Wednesday. Worshipers at the mosque told police that Gray was the man who vandalized their sanctuary on April 4, after recognizing him from security footage.
Arriving officers arrested Gray after determining he matched the description of the suspect wanted in the attack.
“During the course of their investigation, officers developed probable cause for an arrest,” police spokeswoman Paulina Henderson said in a statement.
Henderson said the investigation is still active and police are seeking more information.
Surveillance video obtained by the San Francisco Standard shows a man with a skateboard smashing several mosque windows on April 4.
The man returned to the mosque, according to the Standard, on Tuesday and Wednesday. During the latter incident, mosque worshipers confronted Gray and distracted him long enough to call the police, who arrived in time to arrest him.
“People in the community were living in fear for the last two weeks,” said Yemeni American Aseel Fara, 24, a member of the Masjid al-Tawheed mosque and San Francisco immigrant rights commissioner.
Fara said the incident shocked many community members who migrated to San Francisco because of its pluralistic society.
He said he received a call from another mosque in the Bay Area that had suffered a similar vandalism incident and wanted to review surveillance footage to see if Gray was involved.
“You don’t expect that here,” he said. “This has created great discord and I hope we can begin to heal through this arrest.” »
News of Gray’s arrest was celebrated by the Council on American-Islamic Relations Bay Area chapter.
“We are relieved that an arrest has been made following these distressing incidents,” Zahra Billoo, CAIR’s Bay Area executive director, said in a statement. “It is important for our community to see concrete steps taken to protect our places of worship, where everyone has the right to feel safe.
Billoo said the number of Islamophobia complaints filed nationally is at its highest level in 30 years.
There was 8,061 reports received by CAIR last year. The organization said nearly half of these complaints occurred in the past three months since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, which sparked a war, leading to the deaths of more than 30,000 Palestinians by Israeli forces. This number of Islamophobic complaints represents a 56% increase in incidents between 2022 and 2023, according to the organization.
“This arrest sends a clear message that hate-motivated behavior will not be overlooked and is a reminder of the ongoing challenges we face in the fight against Islamophobia,” Billoo said.
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