The call came in before sunrise.
It was around 6 a.m. on Sunday, May 3. On one end of the line: a Raleigh-Wake 911 dispatcher. On the other, a man with an Australian accent and an altered voice.
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He told the dispatcher he had placed four bombs around the Islamic Association of Raleigh. The caller said killing people is "the goal" and he "hates Muslims." The call lasts more than 12 minutes.
The Association’s long-time security vice chair, Rasid Salahat, hurried in from home. When he got there, he found the building already surrounded by police.
“Immediately our security team evacuated everybody out of the building,” Salahat said.
Ultimately no bomb was found, but the threat is part of a growing trend, according to groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“We've had everything from violent attacks that have gone unreported to the general public. We have had vandalism at our mosques,” said Al Rieder, the regional community engagement manager with CAIR’s NC chapter.
Rieder points to CAIR’s own data to back up the claim. Last year, the organization received 8,683 complaints - the highest CAIR has recorded in its 30 year history.
“American Muslims have been targeted as much, if not more, in the past three years, particularly in the past year, than we [were] in the year following 911, in the years of the Iraq war," Rieder said.
CAIR is pushing to have the May 3 911 call investigated as a hate crime.
“Absolutely, it's attacking a place of worship, a community that's been persecuted in this country and in many parts of the world for quite a while,” Rieder said.
WRAL reached out to Raleigh Police to ask about the status of their investigation. The department acknowledged the request, but so far hasn’t provided any updates.
Making a fake bomb threat is considered a Class H felony in North Carolina. That’s punishable with a little more than two years behind bars.
On Thursday, the Islamic Association of Raleigh’s security team is scheduled to meet with local and federal law enforcement. It’s a meeting Rashid Salahat organizes every year to allow new officers to visit the association and ask questions. It’s the kind of open-door policy Salahat hopes can build community and change minds.
“We all need to come together and know each other and open our doors to each other,” Salahat said. “Meet your neighbors, offer them something, let them get to know you.”