Chicago area mosques on high alert after Quebec City attack

FOX 32 NEWS - A French Canadian is charged with six counts of first-degree murder after investigators say he opened fire on a mosque in Quebec City.

The attack in Canada has put mosques in the Chicago area on alert. Many have since heightened their security measures.

A security vehicle was making its presence known around the Mosque Foundation Monday night. The president of the foundation says what happened in Quebec is tragic and the community must remain vigilant.

"Security now comes first priority for us, to take a look and make sure that we have safe and secure places for our places of worship and also our schools,” said Oussama Jammal, The Mosque Foundation President

Chicago police tweeted earlier Monday that it is, "monitoring the situation in Canada." There is no known threat to Chicago, but the department will be providing special attention to mosques and the surrounding areas.

Jammal says the community has remained vigilant amid a spike in hate crimes against Muslims.

According to the FBI’s latest numbers, anti-Muslim assaults reached the highest number since 2001, the year of the 9/11 attacks.

Jammal says not helping matters, more recently, president trump's executive order temporarily banning people from predominately Muslim nations.

"It seems like encouraging people and I would say radicalizes people to do the unfortunate crimes that they have committed against innocent people,” Jammal said.

Muslims in Bridgeview say nothing will stop them from coming to worship.

Many say the community is resilient.