The North Carolina office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NC), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate a reported bomb threat targeting a mosque in that state as a hate crime.
VIDEO: North Carolina Mosque Targeted with Bomb Threat
In an announcement posted online, the Islamic Association of Raleigh said: “Unfortunately, a bomb threat was made directly to 911 targeting our masjid. The Raleigh Police Department (RPD) responded within minutes, working in close coordination with the IAR Security Team. Alhamdulillah, the campus has been cleared and is safe to resume normal operations.”
In a statement, CAIR-NC Community Engagement Manager Al Rieder said:
“Any threat targeting a house of worship is deeply alarming and must be treated with the utmost seriousness. Given the ongoing rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric and hate incidents nationwide, it is essential that law enforcement authorities investigate this bomb threat as a possible hate crime and take all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of the local Muslim community.”
Rieder said that last year, CAIR-NC joined community members in helping to paint over hate vandalism targeting a mosque in that state.
He noted that last month, CAIR-NC condemned the reported posting of flyers containing white supremacist and neo-Nazi imagery at a public park in Clayton, North Carolina. Earlier this year, CAIR similarly condemned the distribution of antisemitic and neo-Nazi propaganda in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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.
According to CAIR’s most recent civil rights report, complaints of anti-Muslim bias and discrimination have continued to rise nationwide, reflecting an ongoing pattern of Islamophobia impacting communities across the country.
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-NC Community Engagement Manager Al Rieder, 202-742-6421, arieder@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