‘He presented a gun’: Dispute over Islamic mosque turns violent at New Mexico Catholic parish

A weekslong quarrel involving a local resident in Albuquerque ended with a suspect arrested on two felony charges, according to a local priest.

A public dispute over the construction of an Islamic mosque in Albuquerque, New Mexico, boiled over into violence earlier this month when a local resident reportedly drew a gun during an altercation with an employee of a Catholic parish.

Father Vincent Paul Chávez, the pastor of the Shrine of the Little Flower St. Therese of the Infant Jesus Parish in Albuquerque, told EWTN News that the violent incident on July 22 came after several weeks of tension in the community stemming in part from the priest’s open support of a proposed 45,000-square-foot mosque that would be built several miles away from the parish.

Chávez said he spoke at a county meeting on July 1 in support of the construction of the mosque. In remarks he provided to EWTN News, the priest said at the meeting that he would “love” if the mosque were built next to the Catholic parish.

He referred to the Islamic religion as “noble Islam” and as “a religion of Abraham as are Christianity and Judaism.”

“Let us not be influenced by ignorance and racism,” the priest said at the meeting. “We have freedom of religion in these United States.”

Chávez said one attendee filmed his remarks and posted the video to social media; she reportedly urged local residents to contact Archbishop John Wester in protest.

The priest said he eventually responded via the parish’s marquee sign on which he has regularly posted topical messages throughout the years. Chávez said he posted the phrase “Racism is a grave sin against God’s love” on the marquee; two days later he added part of the woman’s name to the sign.

On July 22 Chávez said the woman came to the parish to take a video of the sign. The priest said he spoke briefly with her; he said he remarked to her that he was “living rent-free in her head.” Chávez then went inside the parish, at which point he directed the parish’s facilities manager to ask the woman to leave.

The woman appeared to leave, the priest said, but eventually returned with another man who was reportedly her boyfriend. Chávez said the pair approached the facilities manager in his car while the boyfriend allegedly “presented a gun.” The manager then sprayed both of them in the face with mace.

Chávez said he ran out to take video of the rest of the encounter, which subsequently “de-escalated” with the boyfriend leaving in his car. He was arrested the next day and charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault. The priest said he was told by authorities that the FBI may be investigating the incident as a hate crime.

Both news reports and Chávez himself identified the individuals in the dispute as local residents Katrina Griego and David Romero. Neither individual responded to requests for comment regarding the incident.

Several days after the violent incident at the parish, on July 27, Wester issued a statement in which he said that Muslim residents of Albuquerque “have the same God-given and constitutionally protected right to worship freely as every other faith community, including our own.”

Citing the Second Vatican Council, the archbishop said the principle of freedom of religion “is not limited to Catholics or Christians; it extends fully to Muslims, Jews, and all people who seek to worship according to their conscience.”

In a July 30 statement the U.S. Council on American-Islamic Relations praised the assault charges brought against the suspect in the parish dispute, thanking law enforcement for “taking this alleged threat seriously.”

“No faith leader should face intimidation or violence for defending the constitutional rights and religious freedom of his neighbors,” the council said in its statement.

In a statement to his parishioners after the incident, meanwhile, Chávez said the altercation was “a sobering reminder that words matter.”

“When disagreements become fueled by anger, fear, or hatred, they can have real and dangerous consequences,” he said.

The priest urged the congregation to pray for “everyone involved,” including “those whose actions led to this painful event.”