LEWISTON – The Many And One Coalition plans to hold a news conference to address last week’s pig’s head incident at the Lewiston Auburn Islamic Center.
Brent Matthews, 33, of Lewiston, was arrested a day after the incident and charged with desecrating a place of worship, a misdemeanor.
Nearly 40 Muslim men were praying inside the Lisbon Street mosque when the frozen pig’s head was rolled in.
Police said Matthews confessed and told them he took the severed head from a pig roast days before.
The case has received federal attention, with the FBI and U.S. Justice Departments notified of a possible hate crime.
Also in that time, churches, church councils and other groups have begun addressing the issue by organizing conferences and rallies.
According to Kate Brennan of Greene, a board member and volunteer with the Many And One Coalition, that group will be holding a news conference at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday on the sidewalk of Courthouse Plaza, just yards away from where the incident occurred.
The Lewiston/Auburn Interfaith Clergy Group, the Maine Council of Churches, and the Holocaust Human Rights Center will be represented or be making statements.
Also on Wednesday, the Universalist Church in Auburn will hold an assembly focusing on the incident and “an informal group of youth” will be meeting in Kennedy Park in Lewiston, all “to show solidarity with the Muslim community,” Brennan said.
The gathering representing a coalition of diverse, local groups, will focus on “what’s appropriate and helpful” for the Somali community at this time, Brennan said. In the larger picture, that will also be what is appropriate and helpful for all Lewiston communities, Brennan said. The words of the conference will attempt to “voice outrage” over the incident, according to Brennan.
Nuh S. Iman, the imam of the Lewiston Auburn Islamic Center, said Sunday evening that he had not been contacted concerning the Wednesday events.
“We believe this was an isolated incident,” he said of the rolling of the pig’s head.
Iman said he was visited by police Chief William Welch last week. Welch explained the local and federal legal matters pertinent to the case. Welch also related his sympathy over the incident, Iman said.
The Somali religious community might send representatives to the Wednesday meetings, Iman said Sunday night, though he had no plans at the time of organizing any further assemblies or conferences.
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