LEWISTON – Police on Tuesday arrested a man they say desecrated a local mosque by throwing a pig head into the center during evening prayers.
Brent Matthews, 33, of Lewiston was arrested at the Lewiston Police Station.
Police said he confessed to the crime.
“He said it was a joke,” said Lt. Michael McGonagle.
The frozen pig’s head, which was slightly larger than a basketball, was thrown through the open door of the Lewiston Auburn Islamic Center on Lisbon Street late Monday night. Nearly 40 Muslim men were in the mosque, praying.
According to witnesses, the head was rolled from the door “like a bowling ball” and into the crowd. No one was hit.
Pigs are viewed as unclean by Muslims. Mosque members considered the incident a deliberate insult. Police consider it a hate crime.
Three detectives worked on the case overnight, McGonagle said.
Matthews was charged with desecrating a church, a misdemeanor.
Police said the case will be reported to the state Attorney General’s Office as a hate-bias crime, and to the Androscoggin County District Attorney’s Office for further investigation.
Matthews has been arrested in the past for assault, operating under the influence and other minor crimes. Lewiston police said they have not arrested him for a hate crime before.
Comments are no longer available on this story