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| Muslim sect members arrested | ||
| 2005-12-01 | ||
| SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA -- Members of a black Muslim sect have been arrested for allegedly trashing two Arab-American liquor stores in a predominantly African-American city near San Francisco, police said on Wednesday. Donald Cunningham, 73, and 19-year-old Yusuf Bey IV surrendered to police who had issued warrants for their arrests, according to investigators. Bey is a son of the late Yusuf Bey, a California beauty salon owner turned religious leader who founded an Oakland-based sect under the umbrella of a business called Your Black Muslim Bakery. Police identified Cunningham and Bey IV as being among the alleged vandals who were dressed in the Muslim group's trademark dapper style when they ransacked two Oakland liquor stores on November 23. Men dressed in suits and bow ties barged into the liquor stores and smashed bottles of wine, liquor and beer to the floor. The attackers reportedly accused the merchants of poisoning blacks. Police said that they were able to identify six suspects based on action caught by a surveillance camera in a vandalized store. One of those stores was torched early on Monday morning and its owner, Abdel Hamdan, was stuffed in the trunk of a car left in a neighboring city, according to police. A neighborhood resident said that she noticed African-American men in suits lingering near the market shortly before the fire, which police determined was arson. Cunningham and Bey IV were booked on suspicion of robbery, vandalism, conspiracy and making terrorist threats, according to police. Investigators were working to determine whether there is evidence linking the vandalism and the arson. The dress of the perpetrators drew attention to the local black Muslim group founded about 30 years ago by Yusuf Bey. Members of the group, which advocates strict tenets including shunning alcohol, have been sued in court for allegedly beating a barbecue restaurant owner for selling pork.
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| Posted by:Steve |