The controversy over the proposed mosque at Ground Zero in Manhattan appears to have unleashed latent hatreds all across the country as widely scattered mosques have been vandalized; in one case, a drunken man entered a mosque and urinated on the carpets during a prayer service.

New York isn't the only state seeing anti-Islamic protests – and at times counter-protests – against the building of planned mosques. Protests have also broken out in such widely scattered locales as Brentwood, Tennessee, Temecula Valley, California, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin and Dayton, Ohio.

Last month also saw the vandalism of a Madera, California, Islamic center. The center was vandalized with anti-Islamic signs that read: "No Temple for the God of terrorism at Ground Zero;" "Wake up America, the Enemy is here;" and "American Nationalist Brotherhood."

The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was also the target of anti-Islamic vandals last month. On August 28, the local sheriff got word that one piece of construction equipment at the site had been burned and three others were doused with an unknown fluid but not set on fire. Two federal agencies are reportedly involved in the investigation, but a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it had not yet been determined whether the fire was arson.

The following day, Muslim community members reported hearing gunshots as they arrived to inspect the damage the fire had caused. Saleh Sbenaty, an engineering professor at Middle Tennessee State University who is on the Islamic center's planning committee, told The Daily News Journal of Murfreesboro he heard nine shots fired near the center. Sbenaty, who has lived in Tennessee for three decades, said, "It was nothing like a hunting rifle. We hope for the best, obviously, but this isn't hunting land. There's plenty of houses around here. To say we're nervous is a huge understatement. It's terrorism," Sbenaty said.

A few weeks before the fire, Sbenaty told National Public Radio (NPR) that a sign announcing the new center had been vandalized twice.

But mosque vandalisms and anti-Islamic protests aren't the only forms of Islamophobia. Late last month, a New York man identified as Omar Rivera walked into the Iman Mosque in Astoria, Queens, and urinated over the prayer rugs during evening prayers.

Mustapha Sadouki, who was attending the prayer service at the time, said, a man "came in with a beer bottle in his hands, clearly very intoxicated. He fumbled over to our rugs where people were praying" and then urinated in front of them," Sadouki said.

Rivera, who had allegedly been drinking for five days according to one source, reportedly told worshipers, "My sister's dead." He then stumbled out onto the sidewalk, as congregants called the police. New York Police took Rivera to a hospital and later charged him with criminal trespass. "He stuck up his middle finger and cursed at everyone," Sadouki said, adding, "No one can pray now because the rugs are completely soiled. It was disgusting."

In Texas, a man was arrested a few weeks ago for allegedly making a series of terrorist threats under the guise of a radical Muslim group. Allen R. Burgess, 42, a resident of Lake Bridgeport in northeastern Texas, was arrested by local police earlier this month for posting false fliers warning of a terrorist threat unless residents fled their town.

Lana Safah, the spokeswoman for MAS [Muslim American Society], told the Washington Times those in opposition to the Islamic center near Ground Zero were linking everyone who claims to be Muslim together. "The unfortunate reality is that we're all being linked. We are all being backed into this corner with people saying, 'You're a Muslim – prove yourself.' It's unfortunate. It's impeding upon our rights as Americans to worship freely."