On this holy day of Eid al-Adha, our hearts and prayers go out to the worshipers at the Fort Pierce Islamic Center after learning that their mosque was attacked by an arsonist early this morning. Thankfully it appears no one was inside the mosque at the time of the attack.

An attack on a house of worship on a holy day is a particularly appalling crime, as many families are scheduled to attend services today and will instead find themselves without a place of worship. Our organization has warned against a climate of hate that has increasingly resulted in violence directed at American Muslims; we have tracked over 100 hate crimes against American Muslims and have seen time and again that hateful words often lead to hateful actions. We once again call on leaders and public officials, regardless of political party, to make clear that hate crimes directed against any group of Americans, or their houses of worship, will not be tolerated.

Muslim Advocates has reported this crime to the Department of Justice and continues to track hate violence against the American Muslim community.  Please click here to view our hate crime map.