The three men accused of harassing a Muslim imam at a Tempe mosque on Sept. 11 say the incident has been misportrayed as a hate crime.

"We walked inside the mosque. We were curious about what was in there, like any other church," said Brandon Garcia, one of the three men. "We didn't stop to cause any trouble or to be mean to anyone."

Garcia, Michael Estes and Armando Tolosa were near the mosque on a plumbing job when they decided to go in to learn more about Islam, according to their employer, Richard Yeates, owner of a Mesa plumbing company. [Link]