Fear and anger settled in the Bangladeshi community in Pennsylvania as another hate crime against Muslims erupted last November 8.

According to a report, around 3 a.m. the cars of Imam Golam Mostaf Hossain and Bangla Patrika Managing Editor Niaz Makhdum, which were parked within the premises of the North Penn Mosque, in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, were riddled with bullets.

Police arrested Robert Blackburn, a 53-year-old white man, who was seen running away with a gun. Although he was given a $50,000 bail, Blackburn couldn’t pay the amount. He is now under police custody.

During the investigation, however, Blackburn denied any involvement in the shooting. But police arrested him at the scene of the crime after they found that the bullets on the damaged cars were similar to ones found in Blackburn’s possession.

In recent years, a large number of Bangladeshis have moved to Lansdale, Pennsylvania from different cities, including New York City. Today, there are several thousand Bangladeshis who live there permanently.

Makhdum said that he was glad that he was not around when the shooting happened. He said that he went to New York on November 5, but parked his car at the mosque’s parking lot, which is located near his house.

Mostafa, who was at home at the time of the shooting, was just informed that his vehicle, which was also parked in the same spot, was badly damaged.

The police added that the Homeland Security Department is conducting an investigation to determine the motive for the shooting.

Local television channels and newspapers in Lansdale, which aired and published investigative stories about the incident, also reported that North Penn Mosque is involved in many community development activities, like distributing food baskets for homeless, holding special programs on different national days, sponsoring summer camps to raise the new generation to be good citizens, and hosting seminars, tea parties and fun-days. Despite these activities, some people remained isolated from the Bangladeshi community and were involved in ‘hate crimes’ against Muslims, looking to destroy their programs.

Grafitti saying “Leave or Die” was also found on the walls of the mosque. The day following the shooting incident, the windows of the mosque were broken. More recently, bullets have again rained on the cars parked at the mosque.

Despite the dangers, Muslims in Lansdale said their community is peace loving and that they have good relations with their neighbors. But for them, one important question remains: How long will these hate crimes continue?