A small mosque in St. Jean sur Richelieu is getting a lot of unwanted attention, days after one congregant killed a soldier.
Martin Couture-Rouleau prayed several times a week at the Muslim Association of Upper Richelieu (Association Musulmane du Haut-Richelieu) following his conversion to Islam.
On Monday Couture-Rouleau ran over two soldiers, including Patrice Vincent who died following the collision.
Couture-Rouleau has been described as someone who had become radicalized and it's raising questions about how and why he became the person he did.
A statement posted on the door of the mosque expresses shock at what happened, and at the same time asking people not to jump to conclusions.
One worshipper at the mosque Friday morning said he did not know Couture-Rouleau personally, and that he can't make sense of what happened.
"What he did, that is not part of Islam. Read about Islam and you can see this," said the man.
There are concerns in the Muslim community that the events this week in St.Jean sur Richelieu and Ottawa will further tarnish their religion and people's perceptions of it, and they fear a backlash.
Vandalism in Alberta
In Cold Lake, Alberta a mosque was vandalized early Friday morning.
The words "go home" and "Canada" were spray-painted on the mosque in northeastern Alberta
Premier Philippe Couillard understands that Muslims in Quebec fear similar events, and said he's already spoken to leaders in the Muslim community and will do so again in the near future.
"I will meet with them on my return from China, and I want to engage with them and my colleagues, in order to work on security with the police forces, but also to work in the community, upstream, in the mosques and see how we can work together with the youth that sometimes see in radicalism and violence a solution to their difficulties, and of course it cannot be a solution," said Couillard.
