Muslims protest in San Diego, call for protection of mosques in Massachusetts.
AB Wire
The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) has called on the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the FBI to investigate as a possible hate crime an alleged threat to two Muslim women by a man wearing a U.S. Postal Service uniform and identifying himself as a postal worker.
The two women (who are sisters) and an infant were allegedly approached Fridayevening in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, by a postal worker who shouted obscenities and reportedly said, “I am going to burn your ‘f**king’ temple.” He allegedly elbowed one of the women and spat in her face while she was waiting to cross the street, according to a press release. The man followed her across the street and called the other Muslim woman a “n**ger” and said, “I am not crazy, I am a postal worker.”
The two women walked into a corner store with the man still following them. Inside the store, he reportedly continued threatening to burn their “temple” and even began shouting at the infant.
“We ask U.S. Postal Service investigators, the NYPD and federal officials to investigate this threat as a hate crime and to file charges that reflect the seriousness of the incident,” said CAIR-NY Director of Operations Sadyia Khalique.
Last week, CAIR-NY’s office was informed several similar hate incidents targeting Muslim women.
Also, on Monday, CAIR’s Cincinnati chapter called on the FBI and local law enforcement authorities to investigate a bias motive for an alleged attempt to run down a Muslim woman.
CAIR’s San Diego chapter is taking part in a rally against Islamophobia after an alleged attack on a Muslim woman university student.
The release noted that CAIR’s Massachusetts chapter called for increased police protection at local mosques because of a spike in anti-Muslim rhetoric and direct threats against Muslim houses of worship nationwide since the recent Paris terror attacks.
“These incidents fit a pattern of increased hate-motivated crimes and bias incidents nationwide targeting persons and property associated, or perceived to be associated, with Islam and the American Muslim community since the Paris attacks,” said the press release.