Religious leaders are calling on law enforcement to respond to letters, which contain threats against Muslims while praising President-elect Trump, sent to at least three mosques in California over the last several days.
The photocopied letter sent to Islamic centers in Long Beach, Claremont and San Jose addresses Muslims as the “children of Satan,” calls them “vile and filthy people” and advises them to “pack your bags and get out of dodge.”
The note also says Trump is “going to cleanse America and it make it shine again. And, he’s going to start with you Muslims” and “this is a great time for patriotic Americans. Long live President Trump and God bless the U.S.A.,” according to the Muslim rights group Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The letter is signed off by “Americans for a Better Way.”
In the aftermath, the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of CAIR called for increased police protection for the mosques.
“We urge local law enforcement authorities to work with Muslim community leaders to ensure the safety of all houses of worship,” said CAIR-SFBA Executive Director Zahra Billoo in a statement. “Our state’s political and religious leaders need to speak out against the mainstreaming of Islamophobia that we are witnessing in California and nationwide.”
Tarek Mohamed, the chairman of the Long Beach congregation, told the Orange County Register that he will report the letter to the authorities, and that this was “not a local incident.”
“Some of them are starting to question, ‘Is this our country?'” he added.
The letters are the latest in what seems to be a spike in hate crimes against Muslims in the United States.
According to the FBI, hate crimes against Muslims in America grew by 67 percent in 2015 over the previous year.
Some have tied the spike in recent months to Trump, who during his campaign called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. in response to the threat of radical Islamic terrorism, as well as a Muslim registry.
CAIR said it has witnessed a notable spike in incidents against Muslims and other minority groups since the Nov. 8 election. The Southern Poverty Law Center recently reported more than 700 incidents of “hateful harassment” since the Election Day.
