AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Montgomery County Police in Maryland have opened an investigation into what officials described as an anti-Muslim incident at Walt Whitman High School. On Friday, January 16, 2026, a school officer discovered graffiti containing anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian messages on the school’s walls.
Police authorities are treating the case as a bias-motivated crime based on racial and religious discrimination and are seeking to identify and arrest those responsible. Surveillance footage shows several individuals fleeing the school area toward the football field at around 2:31 a.m., though no detailed descriptions of the suspects have yet been released.
To assist the investigation, a total reward of $5,000 has been offered for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the suspects. The amount includes a $2,000 reward from the Victims’ Rights Foundation and a $3,000 reward from the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Freedom of Expression Center.
Police have urged anyone with relevant information to come forward as the inquiry into the Islamophobic vandalism continues.
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