BUFFALO, N.Y. — Two men were arrested Wednesday, accused of making threats to people during a religious service at a local mosque.
Buffalo Police say the incident happened on the 1900 block of Genesee Street just before 8 p.m.
Officers were called to a report of men being inside the mosque without permission. According to police, the men allegedly made threats towards people in the mosque during a religious service. The men refused to leave until members called the police.
A member of the Jami Masjid Buffalo mosque wants to remain anonymous because he's afraid of Islamophobia. He worries that fear, prejudice, and hatred of Muslims leads to threats against members of the Muslim community. He was in the mosque last night.
"We are scared of this type of harassment, especially in my community," the witness said.
Police were able to identify the two suspects following an investigation. They were arrested a block away from the mosque. According to the witness, the two men appeared intoxicated and were screaming slurs.
Reporter: "What were they screaming?"
Witness: "My son he knows the word. I'm not going to say."
Reporter: "What letter does it start with?"
Witness: "It's not a good sound."
During an interview with the witness, 2 On Your Side witnessed harassment first-hand. Screenshots sent from the President of Buffalo's Muslim Center show another side of hate. They say, "Just loaded the three-eighty," and, "Blow his brains," with the Muslim center tagged.
"I'm representing this Muslim community over here so that is for myself scary. When people see this, they are scared," Abdul Khan, president of Buffalo Muslim Center, told 2 On Your Side.
Robert Lawrence, 23, of Buffalo, and Davious Kapinski, 31, of Buffalo are both charged with one count of disruption or disturbance of a religious service, funeral, burial, or memorial service, and one county each harassment in the second degree.
They were arraigned in court Thursday and were released on their own recognizance. They're scheduled to return to court on October 10.
According to police, there has been no rise in hate crimes toward the Muslim community. However, the president of Buffalo's Muslim Center says he would like to sit down with police to discuss ways to prevent any future occurrences from happening.
Until that happens, the witness says a few members of the mosque have gone through police-like training to be guards of the mosque.