After two copies of the Koran were found in a toilet in a men’s bathroom on campus, University of Texas at Dallas campus police decided to investigate in order to track down the suspects.
On April 11, the news of the incident was reported by The Mercury, UT-Dallas’ student newspaper; the paper stated that two students found the copies of the Koran and alerted authorities.
UT-Dallas Police Chief Larry Zacharias told the Texas Tribune that police are reviewing security video footage; he added that police have narrowed the time frame of the incident to a 30-minute window. Zacharias told KTVT, “It’s not something we want to blast out on campus because we don’t want people to go, ‘Oh, you’re a suspect in the Koran thing.’ We originally suspected these Korans may have come out of the Reflection Room, which is on the first floor of the Student Union. We’ve watched video in this timeframe and only two people went into that Reflection Room — both went in empty-handed and both came out empty-handed.”
Zacharias opined that the incident was not reflective of any anti-Muslim hate on campus, asserting, “There’s not much divisiveness on this campus at all … We constantly ask all of our students, from all backgrounds, do they feel safe on campus? And [the answer] is always yes.”
Strangely, no one has claimed the Korans as their stolen property, so no complaint has been filed. Zacharias told TheBlaze that the investigation will continue anyway because the act was offensive. He said, “First, it would not matter if this were a Quran, a Bible, or a Tora, the act of disposing a religious book or symbol in a toilet is considered an offensive act by our University community. There is an expectation of our community to investigate the incident, even though we have not identified, at this time, a possible owner that would serve as a criminal complainant.”
The president of UT-Dallas’ Muslim Students Association, Mohammad Syed, snapped, “Given the current political climate and how Muslims are portrayed in the media, it makes certain individuals act in this hateful way.” He added that the UT-Dallas community has responded with support and appreciation.
Last August, a University of Texas, Austin professor decided to mock the Bible during a campus carry protest; Professor Steven Friesen, who taught in UT’s religious studies department, pontificated, “In the old Bible, Jesus says, blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God,” then insisted a revised version should state: “blessed are the purely heartless, for they will seek NRA funding.” His version of the Golden Rule? “In everything, do unto others before they do to you, for this is state law and it profits the gun industry.”
“Given the current political climate and how Muslims are portrayed in the media, it makes certain individuals act in this hateful way.”
Mohammad Syed, president of UT-Dallas’ Muslim Students Association
Friesen also mocked The Lord’s Prayer: “Our father, who art in heaven, hollow point be thy bullets. Thy kingdom come, with many guns, on earth that send bad guys to heaven. Give us this day our daily threat, and forgive us our trespasses as we shoot those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from dildos.”