Islamophobia grows in the US.
AB Wire
The Capitol Hill office of the Muslim advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations was evacuated by police after a foreign substance was received in the mail.
The office received an envelope containing a note that read, “Die a painful death, Muslims,” and a white powder, according to CAIR staff attorney Maha Sayed, reported Reuters.
“Our fear is at a pretty high level at this time, given the anti-Muslim rhetoric going on,” said Sayed.
Sayed said on a posting on the group’s Facebook page that the organization receives hate messages daily.
“It’s frightening to experience the hate manifest itself to such a real level. This will not deter us from continuing to protect the civil rights and liberties of all Americans,” the post said.
About three employees came into contact with the powder and were quarantined in the building while police and firemen arrived on the scene to investigate, said Ibrahim Hooper, a CAIR spokesperson, adding that the rest of the office staff waited outside on the sidewalk, the Reuters report said.
CAIR’s Instagram page showed the Washington office blocked off with yellow police tape and a group of emergency vehicles blocking the street.
The incident came days after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump issued a call to prevent Muslims from entering the United States until the government could set up better screening for those seeking to enter the country
In another incident of hate crime against the Muslim community, CBS 13 reported, along with a video, a confrontation between a state worker and two Muslim men praying in a park, in Sacramento.
“But the people you tortured are going to be in eternity in Heaven. You are very deceived by Satan,” said a state worker identified as Denise Slader, in the video. “Your mind has been taken over, brainwashed, and you have nothing but hate.”
A park employee soon comes into frame trying to stop the exchange when the confrontation turns physical.
“This is really inappropriate, so—it is inappropriate for someone to tape record me, this lady was talking about my god. Get out get out—do not touch me, call the cop, call the police.”
She throws her coffee at the man and hits him with her umbrella.
The man shooting the video is Rasheed Albeshari, who posted his cellphone video to Facebook, reported CBS.
Slader is now under investigation by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for allegedly committing a hate crime and battery.
Slader works for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as a program technician. She’s been there for 10 years and earned $29,600 last year.