In the video, which was posted to Facebook on March 4 and shared by several accounts, the women, identified by the police as Tahnee Gonzales, 32, and Elizabeth Dauenhauer, 51, can be seen bringing three children to the Islamic Community Center in Tempe, Ariz., near Phoenix. 

“Look at this mosque, this ugly mosque, here in our backyard in America,” Ms. Gonzales said in the video, adding, “This is the infiltration of the Arabic Muslim coming in and destroying America.” 

The women can be seen opening an unlocked gate with a “No Trespassing” sign on it, entering a courtyard, collecting pamphlets, removing data-x-items from a bulletin board and encouraging the children to do the same. 

The children in the video, two boys and one girl, can be heard insulting Islam as well. The ages and relationship of the children to the women were not immediately clear, but one of the children addresses Ms. Gonzales as “mom.” 

The imam at the mosque, Ahmad Al-Akoum, said members of the Muslim community in Tempe were disturbed by the video. “What really saddened me the most was to see those people bringing their children, giving them lessons in hate, feeding them false information,” he said. 

Sgt. Ronald Elcock, the spokesman for the Tempe Police Department, said the women were charged with third-degree burglary, a felony. If they are convicted and a judge determines it was a hate crime, “it will enhance the sentencing,” he added. 

The video shows the women bringing fliers and pamphlets from the mosque to their car before taking the children and two small dogs on a walk around the property. “We should have brought all the dogs,” Ms. Gonzales said. “They could all pee, all over.” 

When a man who identified himself in the video as a Muslim walked out of the mosque, Ms. Gonzales shouted: “We’re coming after you, we the people. That’s right, you guys are on your way out.” 

Mr. Al-Akoum said it was not unusual for people to stand outside the mosque, harass congregants and, sometimes, damage copies of the Quran. “We’re used to this kind of stuff,” he said. “But for somebody to just act so brazen, to come inside somebody else’s property and take things without permission, this is new.” 

He learned about the Facebook video from the Southern Poverty Law Center on March 5 and reported it to the police on March 8. Since then, he said, the police have increased patrols in the area and the mosque is considering hiring private security workers.

When he learned on Thursday that the women had been arrested, he said: “My heart sunk. I know those ladies have children.” 

Sgt. Calbert Gillett, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, said the women were expected to be released from jail on Friday night but would be monitored electronically ahead of their court appearance.

Source: The New York Times