Letters Threatening Muslim Genocide Received at Various U.S. Mosques
Letters threatening the genocide of Muslims and praising President-elect Donald Trump have been sent to mosques in at least five states.听
鈥淗e鈥檚 going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews,鈥� the letters state, according to a report just published in the .
The letters call Trump the 鈥渘ew sheriff in town鈥� who will 鈥渃leanse America and make it shine again鈥� by eradicating the country鈥檚 鈥渃hildren of Satan,鈥� meant to imply American Muslims, the newspaper reported.
At least nine letters have been received at mosques in California, Ohio, Georgia, Florida and Pennsylvania.
Each letter ends with 鈥渓ong live President Trump and God bless the USA,鈥� the Post reported. 鈥淵ou are evil. You worship the devil,鈥� the letters say of Muslims, 鈥渂ut, your day of reckoning has arrived.鈥�
In response, Nihad Awad, the national executive director of the听Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), sent a to FBI Director James Comey requesting 鈥渁 formal FBI investigation into a campaign of threatening letters targeting mosques nationwide.鈥�
Awad鈥檚 letter said there has been an unprecedented spike in anti-Muslim incidents nationwide in recent months, a trend that 鈥渁ccelerated鈥� following the Nov. 8 election of Trump. Awad reminded the FBI director that data collected by the bureau shows anti-Muslim hate crimes rose 67 percent in 2015.
鈥淲e believe that only a vigorous investigation of this matter will reassure Muslim Americans that the civil rights and liberties of all Americans will be protected in the face of violent threats against their free exercise of religion,鈥� Awad wrote.
The first threatening letter was received last week at the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose, Calif.听
Subsequent and similarly threatening letters were received at the Masjid Miami Gardens in Florida and Islamic Centers in Cleveland, Harrisburg, Pa., Savannah, Ga., and in California at Islamic Centers in Los Angeles, Signal Hill, Granada Hills, Pomona and Fresno.
Stephen Woolery, with the FBI鈥檚 counterterrorism division in Los Angeles, told a news conference this week that the letters 鈥渁re too vague to be considered a hate crime,鈥� the Post reported.
鈥淭he letters are sensational,鈥� Woolery said, but they 鈥渄on鈥檛 specifically contain a threat 鈥� of violence, and that鈥檚 what the FBI looks for when we investigate these types of incidents.鈥�
Michael Downing, the deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police Department鈥檚 Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau, said he believes the author feels 鈥渆mboldened鈥� by the current political climate and likely wrote the letters 鈥渙ut of fear, uncertainty and unknown.鈥�
鈥淭his is a sickness,鈥� Downing told the Post. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a cancer that we cannot allow to metastasize. We have to fix this.鈥�
鈥淭his isn鈥檛 a Muslim problem, a Jewish problem or a Christian problem,鈥� Downing said. 鈥淭his is a problem with humanity.鈥�
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