The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating an anti-Islamic incident outside a Kensington mosque last week after a man wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat was filmed shouting derogatory rhetoric at the house of worship.
A video widely shared online since Feb. 18 shows the suspect standing outside Masjid Nur-Al Islam on Church Avenue with a megaphone, yelling anti-Islamic comments and claiming that the mosque funds the terrorist organization Hezbollah.
New York’s elected officials have condemned the incident, with Gov. Kathy Hochul vowing to “root out Islamophobic hate in every corner of our state.”
Police from the 66th Precinct, which serves Borough Park, Midwood, and Kensington, met with mosque members on Friday to discuss the incident and filed an official harassment complaint.
“The investigation remains ongoing by the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force,” an NYPD spokesperson said Monday.
In a statement condemning the incident, local Council Member Shahana Hanif claimed the perpetrator is linked to the anti-Muslim group Betar US, which the Anti-Defamation League recently listed as an extremist hate group.
“I am deeply disgusted by this flagrant act of Islamophobia at Masjid Nur-Al Islam, a local mosque in my district in Kensington — a space that has long served as a haven for immigrant elders, families, and youth who have the right to feel safe,” Hanif said. “Islamophobia, antisemitism, or any form of hate have no place in our city or country. Jews in Boro Park and Muslims in Kensington deserve to live, pray, and walk about their neighborhoods safely and without fear.”
In a show of solidarity, Mayor Eric Adams visited the mosque on Sunday, stating that his team is actively working on the investigation with the Hate Crimes Task Force and the 66th Precinct.
“I know this hateful act has shaken the community, and I want to remind our Muslim brothers and sisters that you can worship in peace here. Hate and bigotry have no place in our city and never will,” Adams posted on X.
Hochul further called the incident a“hateful, offensive display,” that “will not be tolerated in New York.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James also denounced the incident in a statement to Brooklyn Paper.
“The inflammatory comments that were shouted in front of the Masjid Nur-Al Islam mosque must be condemned. Hate and intolerance, in all forms, can never be normalized. Islamophobia has no place in New York, and I will always fight for everyone to live in peace and safety,” James said.
Representatives for Masjid Nur-Al Islam mosque did not return requests for comment at the time of publication.
Last year, 45 anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate crimes were reported across New York City, according to NYPD data, including one anti-Muslim incident in the 66th Precinct. Fifteen incidents — the most of any single police precinct — were reported in the nearby 71st Precinct, which covers parts of Crown Heights and Prospect Lefferts Gardens,
