Fake grenade outside US mosque

Two mosques in the city of Hawthorne were vandalised Sunday with paint and a fake grenade was left in the driveway of one of the properties, police said, adding that the FBI is helping with the investigation.

The Hawthorne Police Department said it received a report early Sunday that a possible explosive device had been left outside the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Baitus-Salaam Mosque.

Police said the vandalism occurred overnight and that both incidents are consider hate crimes.

Authorities on Friday arrested 23-year-old Carl James Dial Jr. of Palm Desert in connection with a fire at the Islamic Center of Palm Springs. Dial was booked for investigation of commission of a hate crime, arson, maliciously setting a fire and burglary. The fire at the Islamic Center was contained to the small building's front lobby. No one was injured.

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