By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Calling it a prank when a man rolls a pig’s head into a mosque misses the point, said the Rev. Jodi Hayashida.

“There are many different forms of hatred, but I wonder if the casual form that calls this a prank isn’t the worst,” she said.

Hayashida, minister of Auburn’s Unitarian Universalist Church, was one of several community leaders to speak at a rally in support of Muslims held Wednesday in Kennedy Park. About 100 people gathered at the gazebo to hear speakers decry the actions of a local man who has been charged with rolling a pig’s head into the Lewiston-Auburn Islamic Center last week.

“When it becomes no big deal to target one group in the community for these kinds of pranks, it means a line has been crossed,” Hayashida said. “That line is one that this or any community cannot afford to step over.”

One by one, five Twin Cities church leaders, Mayor Lionel Guay and Gov. John Baldacci stepped to the microphone to promise their support for area Muslims and to denounce the July 3 desecration of the Lisbon Street mosque.

Police say Brent Matthews, 33, of Lewiston bowled a frozen pig’s head through the open door of the mosque during evening prayers. He’s been charged with desecrating a place of worship, which carries a fine of up to $2,000 and up to one year in jail.

Matthews also could face state and federal civil rights charges. That’s being considered by the state and U.S. attorneys general.

Representatives from the Many and One Coalition and the Lewiston-Auburn Interfaith Clergy scheduled Wednesday’s rally to reclaim Lewiston’s honor. The coalition was formed about four years ago to support and welcome Somali refugees to the city.

“It is not acceptable for a place of worship to be a target, especially in this community,” Mayor Guay said. “Be assured that we will do what we can to protect all members of our community.”

The desecration wasn’t just an assault on local Muslims, according to Rabbi Hillel Katzir of Temple Shalom.

“An attack on one house of worship is an attack on all houses of worship,” Katzir said.

It was personal for Elham Salah, a 2006 Edward Little High School graduate and a member of the mosque. Salah was among a group of five students at the rally representing the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence.

Salah was poised to speak to the crowd, but broke down. She said a combination of sadness and stage fright kept her quiet.

“This is my church, where my family goes,” Salah said. “It felt like this was directed at me and at my brothers. For me, it was a personal insult.”

Abdi Sheikh, a representative from the mosque and Catholic Charities Maine’s Lewiston office, said he hoped some good would come from the event. After the rally, he found Lewiston Police Chief William Welch and the two made plans to bring police and members of the mosque together for regular meetings.

Local Somalis may not report every problem they have to police, Sheikh said. Those could include people yelling epithets from cars or vandalism. News of those events does get passed around the Somali community by word of mouth, however.

“Then, when something big does happen, everyone in the community reacts,” Sheikh said. “It all goes up.”

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