Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The communications team at Jami Masjid mosque on Genesee Street in Buffalo released a statement Friday regarding two men who were arrested, accused of causing a "disruption" of some sort while a peaceful service ensued"
"First and foremost, Jami mosque takes the safety of our entire Eastside community seriously. Jami mosque has been open since 2009, and this has been a neutral zone, accepting of everyone with a focus on the black community. It has always been our position to stand on the side of the oppressed, our track record in the community demonstrates that. We would like to take an opportunity to speak about the incident that occurred here on Wednesday, Sept. 20, around 9 p.m. ET There was an incident that occurred here where one gentleman came into the mosque were unsure of his condition, he did interrupt service, and our personal security made attempts to remove him from the property, at which point his family or friends join in that effort. There was no injury that took place nor malice or ill intent was interpreted by the security or leadership of the mosque. The two individuals have been identified as Robert Lawrence and Davius Kapinski, someone contacted the police who arrived after the individuals had left the property and the situation had been resolved. We have come to learn that Robert and Davius have been arrested and charged with harassment and interrupting religious services. It was not our intent to have these men arrested, and we do not support any charges being filed against them."
According to reports, the two gentleman spewed threats and slurs at the mosque members, Mohammed Shariff, VP of the Muslim Society of Buffalo says that is not accurate.
"Nobody felt at any point that either of these individuals were making overtly threatening gestures towards the mosque, nor that either of them were armed or anything like that. Also, there was a report that was put out by someone [saying that they] were shouting slurs, this is also inaccurate. There was no slurs that were being shouted at any point during the event."
Here the full interview in the player below:
