US State Reassuring Muslims After Mosque Attack

"Maine was working with public safety officials to protect its6 , 000to8 , 000Muslims after the incident in Lewiston," the state's second-largest city, Noel Bonem, director of the northeastern state's new office of multicultural affairs, told Reuters.

Bonem said a civil-rights lawsuit filed on Thursday, July20 , by the state attorney-general against Brent Matthews,33 , sends a message to Maine's Muslims "that mosques will continue to be a safe haven, and that such acts will not be tolerated."

The suit, which calls the pig-head toss "a threat of violence," would require Matthews to stay away from the mosque, and its members, and could carry a fine of $5,000.

The incident angered state politicians and local community leaders, who feared it would intimidate Lewiston's estimated 2 , 000Muslims, many of them members of its burgeoning Somali community.

Islam forbids the eating of pork.

Not Guilty

Matthews told police that he bowled the pig's head into the mosque on July 3 "as a joke," but James Howaniec, his lawyer, said Matthews has entered a not-guilty plea.

Howaniec said he expects Matthews, a construction worker now free on bail, will be charged with desecrating and defacing a place of worship in local court, a misdemeanor charge.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also considering federal criminal charges against Matthews.

Maine has the smallest percentage of non-white residents of any US state; the US Census bureau says96 . 9percent of its residents are white.

Lewiston's Somalis, who had come to the United States fleeing war in their chaotic African homeland, have been threatened before.

In2003 , after public remarks by the then-mayor about the growing Somali community, white supremacists converged on the city of35 , 000to stage a hate march against the "invasion" of the Somalis. The event generated international headlines.

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