Online Video of Men Shooting Qur'an Spurs Investigation

July 10, 2006

Source: Chattanooga Free Times Press

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On July 10, 2006 the Chattanooga Free Times Press reported, "The FBI is investigating an online video of two men shooting a Quran with a military rifle and one of them later tossing the holy book down outside a Chattanooga mosque, an FBI official said Monday... The footage is titled 'kill the koran' and was posted June 17 on MySpace.com, an online networking service. It first shows a man identified as mully88 holding a paperback Quran outside a Barnes & Noble Booksellers. The next scene, taped in a wooded area, shows mully88 and another man taking turns shooting the Quran with a rifle mully88 identifies as a Colt M-16. The final scene shows a man tossing the bullet-riddled book onto the sidewalk outside the Islamic Center at 1410 Cemetery Ave. In his profile on the Web site, mully88 identifies himself as a 33-year-old college-educated Chattanooga resident working as a paramedic and mechanic. He says he would 'love to see the white race rule the world' and lists his heroes as 'anyone who has killed a muslim or tried to kill a muslim.' The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations reported the incident to federal officials Monday... 'We are seeing more and more hate-filled, anti-Muslim rhetoric on Web sites throughout the Internet,' [said council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper.] Khalid Hashmi, a spokesman for Annour Islamic Community, a separate mosque in Chattanooga, said the destruction of the Quran is regarded as an insult to Muslims. He said the local Muslim community expects authorities to identify and punish the individuals involved in the video to the full extent of the law."