Cornwall Islamic Community Centre has received support from the community after a targeted vandalism attack. Staff at the centre near Truro described an outpouring of support following the incident that left its premises damaged.
Hasan Kilik, a voluntary Imam at the centre, described what happened. "When I woke up Friday morning, I received a phone call from one of the trustees of the centre. They said there had been an attack on our community centre," he said. "I was shocked and in horror – and even the community that came here that day, they were all in shock. They didn't know what to do."
CCTV footage later released shows a vehicle ramming the gates and a substance suspected to be oil was spread around the parking area. The attack was initially feared to be arson but later confirmed as vandalism. Mr Kilik said the community centre was overcome with supportive messages from individuals across Cornwall.
"It's been overwhelming as we were grippling with the shock and horror of the incident that took place," he said. "We had so many people come here and give us assurances. They came to welcome us, they came to help us and rebuild the centre again, which was really good to see. …They say, look, we support you, we one and all. And this is really heart-warming to hear…and we know that we are welcome here. It gives us hope that these people that do these kind of attacks, they're only small minority and they're not going to divide our unity."
Mr Kilik thanked everyone who came to help with the clean-up and reparations. "We just want to say a big thank you to everyone, all walks of life, the whole entire community of Cornwall, for supporting us and making us feel welcomed, making us feel that we are not other people, we are the part of community," he said. "We really want to thank them for their support."
Cornwall Islamic Centre Overwhelmed by Support After Vandalism