Arizona woman pleads guilty to criminally damaging Tempe mosque
May 2, 2019, 3:10 PM | Updated: 4:35 pm
Tahnee Gonzales (Tempe Police Department via The AP)
(Tempe Police Department via The AP)
PHOENIX — An Arizona woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated criminal damage in an incident at a Tempe mosque last year.
Tahnee Gonzales, 33, was arrested in March 2018 after she and Elizabeth Dauenhauer, 51, recorded themselves insulting Muslims and taking pamphlets from the Islamic Community Center of Tempe.
The terms of Gonzalez’s plea agreement include writing an apology to the mosque and performing 225 hours of community service work with an Islamic humanitarian organization, Helping Hand for Relief and Development.
She is not allowed to return to the mosque without permission from the Maricopa County Victims and Probation Department.
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The women livestreamed themselves and three children walking past a gate with a “no trespassing” sign, taking Qurans and pulling down posters from the mosque near Sixth Street and Mill Avenue.
In the 23-minute video, the pair called Muslims “devil-Satan worshippers” who “hate America” and made other derogatory comments. The video was posted on Facebook but was later removed.
Prior to the plea agreement, Gonzales was charged with child endangerment. She is scheduled to be sentenced on June 4.
Dauenhauer pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal damage in October 2018 and was sentenced the following month to 18 months of probation and 200 hours of community service.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
