Federal Hate Crime Probe Urged After Bomb Threat Targets NC Mosque

IQNA – A bomb threat against a North Carolina mosque should be prosecuted as a hate crime, the state’s largest Muslim civil rights group said.

The North Carolina office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NC) on Monday called on local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate rge reported bomb threat as a hate crime.

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.

Source: Cair.com