The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed a guilty plea by a man charged with making anti-Muslim threats targeting a Maricopa, Arizona, mosque.
Mark Martinez, 36, is charged with making the threats in a phone call to Masjid Bilal ibn Rabah in August, during which he reportedly vowed a “crusade” against Muslims. A change-of-plea hearing is scheduled for October 28.
Earlier this month, CAIR-AZ welcomed the release of an audio recording of alleged racist and anti-Muslim threats targeting the mosque.
“We welcome this guilty plea as an important step toward justice and accountability,” said CAIR-Arizona Executive Director Azza Abuseif. “No community should have to live in fear of violence or hatred simply for practicing their faith. We hope this case sends a clear message that bias-motivated threats or violence will not be tolerated in Arizona or anywhere in our nation.”
She added that CAIR offers a “Best Practices for Mosque and Community Safety” booklet to help keep religious facilities safe. The advice in the booklet is applicable to all houses of worship.
Earlier this year, CAIR released its 2025 Civil Rights Report, Unconstitutional Crackdowns, which reveals that Islamophobia remains at record-high levels nationwide. CAIR said viewpoint discrimination against those speaking out against genocide and apartheid was a key factor in many cases.
Washington, D.C., based CAIR encourages community members facing bias or hate incidents to report them to law enforcement and to CAIR.
Report an incident to CAIR: https://www.cair.com/report/
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CONTACT: CAIR-Arizona Executive Director Azza Abuseif, 602-349-1573, aabuseif@cair.com; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com