Houston mosque receives second threat in a month

The Muslim community in North Harris County is shaken up over an online post threatening to shoot up their Mosque on Thursday. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time they have had a threat.

Just three weeks ago, a man was arrested after threatening to come back and shoot up the Baitus Samee Mosque with his friends, all because he was asked to leave during closing time. 

Although this latest threat happened online, law enforcement is taking it very seriously. Security has been added over the last two days, but the people who worship here say it's not stopping them from practicing their faith.

"The threat that we recently had at this mosque, it's not some local kind of problem. It's not a bad neighborhood or anything like that. It's a symptom of the domestic extremism that is starting to arise in the United States," Rizwan Khan the Imam of the Baitus Samee Mosque says.

The Mosque has stood in North Harris County for nearly two decades. They have never encountered problems until now. The most recent incident occurred Thursday when a person anonymously posted on the "4chan" internet forum that they "will either die or go to prison" by repeating the mosque attack that happened in New Zealand.

Law enforcement acted quickly, showing up to the Mosque. Unfortunately, this is the norm for Muslims, but they must follow procedures.

"Make sure that they know, make sure that the mosque knows. Make sure that the community is safe. Make sure that these threats are taken seriously," Lubabah Abdullah the Executive Director of CAIR Houston says.

It's not known if this was just hoax, and it doesn't matter to those who worship here, if anything it encourages them.

"That we continue to spread the message of love. We continue to give back to the community. We continue to come to the mosque for prayers. We never stop coming," says Khan.

We asked if it would comfort them if the person responsible was arrested. 

"It would be naïve for us to think that the person is caught, but the ideology is thriving, and so now we're safe. So now we look at the bigger picture," says Khan. "We're not going to be comforted by such small things that happen. We want to change the hearts and minds of people. We are not interested in arresting one person."

Houston Police were involved earlier this case. The lead agency is the Harris County Sheriff's Office, but they are being assisted by the FBI. If anyone has any information about this incident please contact your local law enforcement agency.