A man was assaulted at a mosque in Marin County in the holy month of Ramadan, but Novato police are now saying it is not the hate crime they originally feared.
It happened Monday at around 8 p.m. as a man was walking by the Islamic Center of North Marin. He was invited in by members of the congregation to perhaps learn about Ramadan. But the peace of the Muslim celebration was quickly shattered.
“At some point, one of our congregation members noticed he had a firearm in his bag, and due to some of the things we have seen in this world, and in Mosques and other places of worship, and hate crimes and so forth, he was very concerned something might happen,” said Zachary of the Islamic Center.
He said that member tried to grab the bag containing the firearm, when the suspect turned violent.
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“He assaulted one of our members, punched him, and pepper sprayed him, and then fled,” said Zachary.
But a few hours later, San Rafael police say they received a call from 48-year-old David Margolish, confessing he was the one involved in a “misunderstanding” at the Novato mosque. Police said a search of Margolish’s home turned up evidence linking him to the crime, though no sign of the gun.
The silver lining was that despite initial fears this might be a hate crime, that does not appear to be the case.
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“There were no threats or anything, he did not brandish the firearm. There was really no evidence this was premeditated or a targeted attack of any kind,” said Novato Police Department Chief Jim Naugle.
On Tuesday evening, mosque neighbors Emily and Klaus Larsen brought flowers to the mosque to show their support.
“I personally was devastated that that happened in my community, and it happened to people of faith that I think in the United States people don’t know a lot about, and they’re afraid of,” said Emily.
“For us, we have that tension here in our community already. When that incident occurred, first we were very scared. Fortunately no one was seriously harmed,” said Zachary.
As of Tuesday evening, Margolish, who has a prior felony conviction, remained in Marin County Jail being held on a $250,000 bond.
