Leaders from multiple faiths gathered for a press conference on July 29 at the St. Therese of the Infant Jesus Catholic Church to address recent attacks toward the church’s pastor, Father Vincent Paul Chavez, who had previously shown his public support for a proposed mosque in Albuquerque’s North Valley.
On July 22, a suspect identified as 72-year-old David Romero brandished a gun outside of the church and was later arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after pointing the gun at Chavez.
Chavez spoke during a Bernalillo County Commission meeting on July 1, during which he showed support for the construction of the Albuquerque Islamic Center Mosque, which was approved that day to be developed in the North Valley despite pushback and anti-Islamic sentiment from some residents.
Organizers of the press conference wrote in a press packet that the July 22 incident was not isolated and was the “result of an escalation campaign against muslim faith leaders as well as Father Vincent Chavez, in response to his support for the Albuquerque Islamic Center’s recently approved mosque.”
Yahuza Siba, outreach director of the Albuquerque Islamic Center, where the mosque will be developed, said that he was “not surprised by the violence” and is not afraid of the potential for future threats.
“One of the sayings of our Prophet is that a time will come where holding to your religion is like holding to a piece of fire, a coal, and those are the times we are living in,” Siba told the Daily Lobo.
During the press conference, Chavez said that video shared of his one-minute public comment to the commissioners had “spiraled” into public hate and racism, mixed with support for the mosque and freedom of religion in the United States.
“Yet I am the privileged one,” Chavez said during the press conference. “Catholics are a majority faith in New Mexico. If I, the privileged one, was assaulted, I cannot imagine what our Muslim and Jewish sisters and brothers go through.”
Jerome Chavez, a UNM PhD candidate in Chicana and Chicano Studies, said his family previously owned the land on which the mosque is to be built before it was sold to the Albuquerque Islamic Center.
“From what I sense, there were no real concerns about traffic and other zoning issues, but it turned out that a lot of it came out for basically just anti-Islamic bigotry, Islamophobia, and, you know, Christian nationalism,” Chavez said.
The Maria Diers Neighborhood Association appealed the Bernalillo County Planning Commission’s decision to approve a zoning change for the mosque's construction in April, arguing that the mosque would not fit the "character of the area," according to KOAT.
“Just saying that it doesn't belong in the culture of the North Valley is kind of disingenuous,” Chavez said. “Alameda is an acequia community, and acequias are based upon Islamic traditions, practices that are rooted from when the Moors ruled Spain.”
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Bernalillo County District 3 Commissioner Adriann Barboa wrote in a statement to the Daily Lobo that she is "proud of the integrity and due process" of the Bernalillo County Planning Commission for "making decisions without bias in the zoning and planning hearings."
“As a resident living my whole life blocks away from the Islamic Center of New Mexico since it opened in 1986, their presence has increased the beauty and peace in our community and I have only experienced complete respect with them as excellent neighbors,” Barboa wrote.
Attorney and former Islamic Center of New Mexico president, Ahmad Assed, was one of the religious leaders who spoke during the press conference.
“As Americans, we can disagree passionately about religion, politics, and capitalist ideologies, this part of living, it's part of living in a free system, but intimidation, harassment, violence, interference with another person's right to worship has no place in this country,” Assed said.
Leila Chapa is the photo editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the news and multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @paloma_chapa88
Leila Chapa is the photo editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
