Philadelphia’s Islamic community is offering a $20,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of men dressed as Muslim women who robbed several banks and committed a homicide, local media reports said.
“Philadelphia is a unique city in that Islam is not new here,” a public relations official with the United Muslim Masjid told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “It’s up to us to set the tone for how this is addressed.”
Over the past five months, there have been five bank robberies committed by men wearing traditional Muslim garb that covers the head and face.
A week ago, a suspect dressed in the clothes shot and killed a man at a Philadelphia barber shop, the newspaper said.
Surveillance footage, taken on March 20 and posted by the Inquirer, shows a robbery where a man, wearing a black headscarf that covers his face and a long loose dress, enters a Sovereign Bank. The man then presents a threatening letter and takes off on foot with the cash.
