A spike in anti-Muslim incidents in 2016 can be blamed in part on the “Islamophobic rhetoric” of public figures like Republican nominee Donald Trump says a Muslim rights group.
The Council on American-Islamic Relation released a preliminary report Thursday that warns this year is on track to become one of the worst ever for anti-mosque incidents that “have been violent in tone, characterized by intimidation, physical assault and property damage, destruction or vandalism.” As of mid-September, CAIR claims there have been 55 such episodes, with an “alarming majority” being violent in nature. There were 79 incidents in 2015, according to the group.
CAIR points to a spike in reported cases in June and July following the Pulse Nightclub mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., by a man who was raised as a Muslim, as well as a cluster of incidents on and around Sept. 11. The group also name dropped Trump as someone who deserves credit for the rise in mischief.
“The Washington-based civil rights organization attributes the rise in anti-mosque incidents at least in part to Islamophobic rhetoric used by public figures like Donald Trump and others,” the group said in a press release.
CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad, who said the upward trend of violence against the American Muslim community is “deeply troubling,” also urged all presidential candidates to use their influence to stop anti-Muslim acts.
“It is important for presidential candidates and other public figures to unify Americans against hate. Any American should be able to freely practice his or her religion without fear of harm or intimidation,” said Awad.
The report delves into detailed descriptions of the anti-Muslim incidents, but only mentions Trump’s name once. At a January protest against a proposed Muslim community center in Bayonne, N.J., the group claims that some of the protesters carried “Trump” signs along with an assortment of other messages.
CAIR’s jab at Trump is just the latest in a series of statements and calls to action against the GOP nominee who over the course of his campaign has called for a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S., suggested a database to keep track of all Muslims in the U.S. and picked a fight with a Muslim Gold Star couple who appeared at the Democratic National Convention in July.
The group’s report follows an FBI “Hate Crime Statistics” report published in 2015 that said 16.1 percent of 1,140 victims of anti-religious hate crimes in 2014 were victims of “anti-Islamic (Muslim) bias.”
