Source: CNN
By Rolando Zenteno, CNN
(CNN)The author addressed the letter “to the children of Satan” and called Muslims “a vile and filthy people.”
“There’s a new sheriff in town,” the letter said, “President Donald Trump.”
An anonymous group calling itself “Americans for a Better Way” has sent a letter to at least five California mosques and another one in Georgia, according to the Council for Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy group.
“He’s going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews [sic],” the letter said. “You muslims [sic] would be wise to pack your bags and get out of Dodge.”
Anti-Muslim crimes on the rise
The letters are the latest in a growing number of Islamophobic crimes during the past few years. From 2014 to 2015, anti-Muslim crimes in the US rose by two-thirds, according to the FBI’s latest annual hate crime report.
Mark Potok, a senior fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center, said such crimes have risen to the highest level since the 9/11 terror attacks.
Following the presidential election, the SPLC has documented more than 700 incidents of hateful harassment or intimidation against minorities. According to CAIR, at least 100 anti-Muslim incidents have taken place during that same period.
And after Islamic centers in Signal Hill, Pomona, Northridge, Granada Hills and San Jose received copies of the vitriolic letter, CAIR has called for “stepped-up police protection of local mosques.”
In an online statement, the mosque in San Jose confirmed it received a copy of the letter Thursday night.
“We informed the proper authorities and San Jose police have started a formal investigation,” the statement said.
Categories: America, Muslims, The Muslim Times, USA