Arizona women talk children into vandalising mosque in distressing video

Police probing trespass reports on behalf of Islamic centre

A distressing video featuring two women talking children into vandalising an Arizona mosque has recently surfaced online.

Tahnee Gonzales shared three videos on March 4 in which a group of children are told to “collect as much information” and “expose mosques” in order to be “American patriots.” One scene features Gonzales and Elizabeth Dauenhauer leading the children to trespass onto the private property of the Tempe mosque after spewing anti-Muslim venom in a car.



“They smell like goat,” a girl quips as they enter. “Muslims are destroying America and are devil worshippers,” Gonzales can be seen saying in the video.

The women praise the children after they steal flyers and other items from the mosque. “Be careful, because Muslims are waiting to rape you,” the young girl is heard telling a boy. The children then scale the mosque’s funeral van as one woman says  “dead Muslims’ and “sex goats” were once stored in the vehicle.

One video has been taken down while the others remain available on Gonzales’ personal Facebook page. The identities of Gonzales and Dauenhauer were confirmed by police. "We are investigating trespass reports against Dauenhauer and Gonzales on behalf of the Islamic center,” police said. The women were Patriot Movement AZ members, a radical association inspired by President Trump's rhetoric on Muslim immigrants.

Gonzales urges viewers to to fight Sharia and terms Senate candidate Deedra Abboud of the Democratic Party a threat to America.  “Not standing up for America or representing American values in any way,” Abboud posted on Facebook. She added that Gonzales had been removed from Patriot Movement AZ before the incident.

Ahmad Al-Akoum, imam of the Islamic Community Center of Tempe forwarded evidence to police after perusing CCTV footage. “This isn’t the first time the mosque has been on the receiving end of a hate crime, but it was shocking for the community to see young children participating in the vile attacks,” he said.

 



“What really affected me the most is seeing those young children getting real-life lessons in hate, that was the thing that made me really, really upset with those people. Those innocent 5-, 6-year-old children are now really learning hate from their parents. It’s really disheartening,” Akoum said.

 

This article originally appeared on The Huffington Post