‘Fear has no place in our society,’ Muslim center leader says after car rams Burien building

Seattle Times – By Daniel Beekman Seattle Times staff reporter

BURIEN — Every Friday night, Ahlam Nur joins other women at the Muslim American Youth Foundation in Burien to unwind. They pray, chat, play basketball, play the card game UNO and share a meal.

This Monday morning, a car hurtled through the parking lot outside the community center and rammed into the center’s prayer room, smashing a metal-cased window and shattering glass across the room’s red and gold carpet before backing up and driving away.

The space was empty because the hit-and-run occurred around 9:15 a.m., between prayer times. But the incident has shaken the community that uses the center, which opened less than a year ago in a former fitness club near Highway 509 and which serves hundreds of young people. Police have obtained surveillance video and are investigating.