The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today supported a federal hate crime charge for a man who allegedly shot a Black jogger in South Carolina due to his race.
Federal authorities say they are reviewing the case.
Last month, CAIR welcomed a hate crime charge brought against Jonathan Felkel, 33, who was arrested under Richland County, South Carolina’s, new hate crime ordinance.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Felkel, who is white, is accused of firing a gun at a Black man who was jogging on the morning of July 17. Lott reportedly said the “suspect just saw a Black man running in the neighborhood, said, ‘I’m going to shoot him,’…And that’s what he said. That’s from his statements, is that he was shooting just cause he was Black.”
In June, CAIR welcomed a new hate crime ordinance by Richland County, the first such measure passed by a county in that state.
“This shocking and allegedly racially-motivated act of violence is exactly why we need both local and federal hate crime laws to ensure justice and deterrence,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. “We support a federal hate crime charge in this case and continue to call for comprehensive hate crime legislation at every level.”
He noted that CAIR welcomed the passage of a hate crime ordinance by the City of Georgetown, South Carolina.
Georgetown joined other local governments in the state that have passed a hate crime ordinance. South Carolina is one of only two states without a hate crime law.
CAIR also welcomed the Orangeburg County Council’s approval of the first reading of a proposed hate crime ordinance.
Earlier this year, CAIR urged lawmakers in South Carolina to pass a hate crime bill.
Washington, D.C., based CAIR has previously expressed support for the passage of the hate crime bill in South Carolina.
SEE: CAIR Reiterates Support for South Carolina Hate Crime Bill
CAIR Reiterates Support for South Carolina Hate Crime Law After Bill Advances from Subcommittee
CAIR Backs Rally in Support of Proposed South Carolina Hate Crime Bill
Hooper said CAIR and the American Muslim community stand in solidarity with all those challenging antisemitism, systemic anti-Black racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, white supremacy, and all other forms of bigotry.
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CONTACT: 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