MCC Hires Armed Guards To Protect Its Worshipers "It affects all of us ..."

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]The aftermath of the mosque shooting goes beyond San Diego. Leaders in the Bay Area Muslim community say there has been a growing rise in attacks and violent rhetoric, some of which is coming from elected leaders. ABC 7 I-Team News reporter Hassan joins us live from the Muslim Community Center in Pleasanton with a local perspective.

[00:00:18]Answer.

[00:00:21]>> Uma, good evening. The MCC in Pleasanton is the largest mosque in the East Bay.

[00:00:25]They've now hired armed security guards to protect people who come here to pray, especially the next 7 days considered the most sacred in the Islamic calendar.

[00:00:35]>> The Islamic Center of San Diego, site of Monday's mass shooting, used to be a second home for Ramy Belouni, who now lives in Belmont.

[00:00:42]>> It's shock. I mean, in many ways you don't even want to believe it.

[00:00:47]>> Belouni's father helped to establish the mosque and school. His brother's children were in class when the shooting happened. He grew up with Mansour Kaziha, the mosque caretaker seen on the right. He's one of three people killed by the two teenage shooters.

[00:00:59]>> Every camping trip, every barbecue, um he was there. Um and again, he was really like an uncle to me. He is the type of person that served people with a kind of quiet goodness that really made everyone around him feel safer and more loved.

[00:01:16]>> Members of the Muslim community say what happened in San Diego is not an isolated incident of anti-Muslim hate. Violent threats have become more common for many Bay Area mosques.

[00:01:25]>> We were getting a significant amount of heat increase in hate emails.

[00:01:29]Um you know, we had someone saying that they wanted to they have guns and they're they're you know, they want us out of you know, go back to your own country, go back to >> Sema brother served as a board member for the Muslim Community Center in Pleasanton, the largest mosque in the East Bay. Armed guards have been hired to protect worshipers ahead of Friday prayers and the Eid al-Adha holiday next Wednesday, one of the biggest Muslim holidays of the year.

[00:01:52]>> We have been warning about an unprecedented increase in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate for the last several years. That hate has reached a fever pitch this year with elected officials championing anti-Muslim legislation.

[00:02:09]>> Zahra Billoo is executive director of the San Francisco chapter of CAIR, the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the US. She points to tweets like these. Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles saying, "Muslims don't belong in American society." And Congressman Randy Fine from Florida writing, "If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one." Billoo says this type of rhetoric leads to violence. State Senator Aisha Wahab says there's concern that there's few consequences when the target is the Muslim community.

[00:02:39]>> The Muslim community is one of the few communities that it seems that every other elected official, organization, anybody can speak very disparagingly about, and there doesn't seem to be any advocates or allies that speak in support of the Muslim community.

[00:02:56]>> Senator Wahab says there was a moment of silence in the legislature today for the mosque victims. She says lawmakers are working to get more security funding for houses of worship across the state. Live in Pleasanton, Ansar Hassoun, ABC7 Eyewitness News.