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By Roseanne Colletti, NBC 4 New York
Pieces of uncooked bacon were scattered at a New York field where Muslims gathered to celebrate the end of Ramadan – an incident police are investigating it as a hate crime, authorities said Monday.
Organizers found the bacon on a section of the John D'Amato Field, in New Dorp, Staten Island, where about 1,500 people gathered Sunday to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, the Muslim holiday marking the end of dawn-to-sunset fasting during Ramadan.
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The celebration was not marred by the crime because organizers did not inform those gathered until after the celebration had concluded, said Mohamed Sadeia, president of the Muslim American Society on Staten Island, which organized the gathering, according to the Staten Island Advance. Police investigated the crime before the Eid services began.
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Three packages of uncooked bacon were left behind along with a note, which was signed by someone who used a code name and referenced a web site, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters Monday. The web site mentioned in the note contained references to the raw bacon, Kelly said.
Observant Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan, and are forbidden to eat pork.
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