In Texas, a member of the Islamic Center of Pflugerville found a torn up Quran covered in feces Monday.
When police arrived, they found the destroyed Quran in front of the entrance to the mosque. Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.
The person who called police said he saw the vandalism when he arrived at the Islamic Center for morning prayer. He was unaware of any threats toward the center.
Center board member Faisal Naeem said the center can't be sure whether the vandalism is connected to the attacks in Paris, in which 129 people were killed and hundreds injured. But he said nothing like this had ever happened in the center's 3½ years here. Pflugerville, a city of 54,644, according to the U.S. Census, is 17 miles northeast of Austin.
"A few individuals who did what they did, they don't represent 1.6 billion Muslims," Naeem said. "They don't represent me for sure and the Austin Muslim community."
Meanwhile, federal authorities say threats made against two mosques in Pinellas, Fla., are not credible.
On Friday, threatening phone messages were left at the Islamic Society of Pinellas County in Pinellas Park, Fla., and the Islamic Society of St. Petersburg.
The suspect left a voicemail at the Pinnellas Park mosque saying he was going to the center to “firebomb you and shoot whoever is there.”
Martin Schnitzler, 43, of Seminole, Fla., was arrested Tuesday and charged with using a telephone to make violent threats. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
The FBI's Tampa field office spokesman, Dave Couvertier, said the calls came from the same person, who was identified and interviewed over the weekend. Couvertier said investigators found no actual plans to carry out acts of violence.
"I don't know what it takes for the FBI to consider a threat against American Muslims legitimate more than a person saying he wants to firebomb Muslim community centers," said Hassan Shibly of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Florida. He said the messages were clearly threats.
In one message, the caller said, "I'm taking the war to you and I'm going to have a big following."
Hatem Jaber, a volunteer and teacher at the St. Petersburg mosque, says the caller threatened to "firebomb" the mosque and called Friday's attacks in Paris "the last straw."
"Any time somebody threatens like this and wants to strike fear in the hearts of people, obviously we are scared," Jaber said.
On Monday night in Pflugerville, community members arrived at the Islamic Center of Pflugerville to offer support and donations.
One of those bringing monetary support was 7-year-old Jack Swanson. He brought $20 from his piggy bank.
"This gives me hope because this means that it's not you know one versus the other because two years, 10 years, 50 years — I'll be gone. But my kids and Jack, both Americans, born here are going to grow up together," Naeem said.
Jack's mother, Laura, is not Muslim, but as a neighbor she was looking for a way to help.
"We got together our pennies and it came out to 20 bucks so we did what we could," she said. "It doesn't matter what you believe or I believe or he believes or anybody believes. All faith is important. And especially peaceful faith. I mean what happened in Paris is not what's happening in Pflugerville. We should all be here supporting each other."
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