October 14, 2016
Issue: Fighting Bigotry
Muslim Advocates Commends Government’s Response to Alleged Plot to Attack Somali Immigrants and Mosque in Grand City, Kansas
Muslim Advocates praises the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI and local law enforcement for using the full force of the law to investigate and charge three men who called themselves “The Crusaders” and allegedly planned to bomb an apartment complex occupied by Somali immigrants and a mosque in Garden City, Kansas. These charges reflect the federal government’s willingness to hear and respond to the American Muslim community’s calls for rigorous investigations and prosecutions of those who engage in hate violence.
“We commend the Justice Department for using its full authority to hold perpetrators of hate accountable and for taking action to ensure the safety of the countless lives that would have been destroyed had this alleged heinous attack materialized,” said Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates. “Today’s arrests are a painful reminder that extremist violence in America is not unique to a single race or faith and that law enforcement must focus on extremist violence in all its forms, as hate groups and their networks continue to organize and endanger Americans’ safety.”
Muslim Advocates has been tracking hate incidents since November 2015, and has seen an alarming rise in hate violence across the country that targets the American Muslim community. In the last year, Muslim Advocates has tracked over 140 crimes that have ranged from murders, arson, vicious beatings, and vandalism.
Click here to view Muslim Advocates’ hate map tracking criminal incidents.