The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed a guilty plea in the 2019 racist arson of a historic social justice center in Tennessee where civil rights icons Rosa Parks and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. trained.
White supremacist Regan D. Prater will plead guilty to the firebombing that destroyed the administrative offices of a historic East Tennessee civil rights and social justice center.
CAIR welcomed charges in the case last year.
In a statement, Washington, D.C., based CAIR said:
“We welcome this guilty plea as an important step toward justice for a reprehensible act of racist violence that targeted a site deeply connected to the struggle for civil rights in our nation.
“The destruction of a center where Rosa Parks and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. trained was not only an attack on a building, but on the legacy of peaceful activism and equality it represents.
“Acts of hate-fueled violence must be met with swift and firm accountability. This case sends a clear message that those who seek to intimidate communities or erase civil rights history will be held responsible.”
CAIR and the American Muslim community stand in solidarity with all those challenging antisemitism, systemic anti-Black racism, xenophobia, anti-Muslim hate, 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