Anti-Muslim sign isn't hate crime, HPD says

Even though local Islamic leaders are upset about an anti-Muslim sign found near a southeast Houston mosque — but it's not a hate crime, according to HPD. The sign, which called Muslims the enemy and included a drawing of the prophet Muhammad, was found leaning against a fence near the mosque in the 8800 block of Old Galveston Road. Problem is, the fence is considered public property, so police say it's not clear exactly who the sign was directed toward.

If the sign had been left on the mosque's property, authorities said, it would be more likely considered a hate crime.

"The suspect would have been on public property when the sign was placed and did not cross onto (the mosque's) property as far as we can tell. It's currently under investigation to determine whether it should be classified as a hate crime," said Nat McDuell, a Houston Police Department spokesman.

"Right now, investigators are having trouble finding the crime," McDuell said. "They may have the hate, but they don't have the crime."

Kaleem Siddiqui, spokesman for the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the people who made the sign might have been influenced by the attention drawn by Danish political cartoons satirizing Muhammad. Siddiqui called on the FBI to investigate the sign incident as a hate crime, but a local FBI spokeswoman said no formal request has been made and agreed that proving the sign was a hate crime would be hard since the sign was on public property.