On Friday, Nov. 13, at least 129 people were killed in a series of coordinated terrorist attacks at public venues across Paris. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
In the United States, the Paris attacks have prompted governors in 31 states to declare they will stop or otherwise oppose accepting additional Syrian refugees into their states.
The attacks have brought renewed attention to the plight of Muslims living in the U.S., some of whom have reported an increase in Islamophobia following the bloodshed in Paris.
Many Islamic communities across the U.S. have condemned the attacks, stating that most Muslims exist peacefully within American society.
Here, BuzzFeed News investigates several threats of violence made against Muslim people across the U.S. since the Paris attacks.
1. Threatening calls to a mosque in St. Petersburg, Florida
A 43-year-old Seminole man was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday, Nov. 17, after allegedly threatening to firebomb a mosque and shoot children in the head in St. Petersburg.
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, the FBI confirmed U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley charged Martin Alan Schnitzler with making a telephonic threat to kill, injure, or intimidate using fire or an explosive.
If convicted, Schnitzler faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
According to court documents, during Friday, Nov. 13, as the attacks were unfolding in Paris, Schnitzler left a voicemails at the telephone number for the Islamic Center of Pinellas County, which is located in Pinellas Park.
In one message, Schnitzler said he was calling in reference to the Paris attacks, and warned that he was going to go to the Islamic center and “firebomb you and shoot whoever is there.”
A St. Petersburg police spokesperson told BuzzFeed News authorities were able to arrest Schnitzler because he gave his name in the message.
“He threatened to have a militia firebomb the mosque and kill the people inside, but he left his name and the FBI arrested him," the spokesperson said.
Here is the first call:
Pflugerville Police Department
"Yes, I’m a red blooded American watching the news in France. I’m over this shit. I’m calling all mosques in Pinellas County. I’m bringing it to you baby, I’m tired of this shit. Guard your children. I don’t care if you are extremists or not. I tired of your shit. Get out of my fucking country. I am going to bomb you fucking location. My name is Martin Schnitzler and you can fucking come and find me and report me whenever you want. I am going to fucking take you guys down. I’m sick of you sand n*****s fucking the world up. Fuck you. Fuck Allah. We’ll see how you like it when someone firebombs your fucking place, starts shooting people at will in our country. I’m taking the war to you and I’m going to have a big following. We’re over this shit. You’re not the only mosque in this call. Everyone is getting this call tonight. Fuck you."
Here is the second call:
"Yes, I was calling in respect to the event on the 23rd and 24th of October, as well as the picnic on the 18th of October. I’ve already missed all that. But I’m basically going through your calendar and I just wanted to let you know with all this coming up with what’s going on in France, we’re tired of your shit and I’m going to fucking personally have a militia that’s going to come down to your Islamic Society in Pinellas County and firebomb you, shoot whoever’s there on sight in the head. I don’t care if they’re fucking 2-years-old or 100. I’m over your fucking shit and the whole country. Check out Facebook. Check out postings. This attack in France is the last straw and, you know, fuck you, fuck Allah, fuck your sand n****r fucking ass pit. Get the fuck out of my country. And my name is Martin Schnitzler. Come find me, please. Please report me because I would love, love it. You’re going to fucking die, Masjid Sunnah, or whatever the fuck your name is, you fucking sand n****r.”
Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Florida Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told BuzzFeed News people in the community were relieved Schnitzler had been arrested.
"Many members had been messaging us, asking why a man who would threaten to shoot our children and blow up our places of worship was still out on the streets, so we're very relieved right now," he said.
Shibly condemned the terrorism in Paris, but said the attacks had brought to the fore rising anti-Muslim sentiment.
"Everybody's on edge," he said.
In the past weekend alone, Shibly said the community had been dealing with half-dozen potential hate crimes, adding that he was not authorized to speak on the specifics of several cases due to those Muslims involved wishing to remain anonymous.
2. Acts of vandalism at the Islamic Center of Pflugerville, Texas
Early on Monday, Nov. 12, worshippers arrived at mosque in Pflugerville, Texas, to find it had been damaged by vandals.
The Islamic Center of Pflugerville, located in a strip mall near Austin, was smeared with feces and pages torn from the Qur’an.
Police told BuzzFeed News the case is being investigated as a hate crime.
“We’ve never had anything like this happen before,” Assistant Pflugerville Police Chief Jim McLean told BuzzFeed News.
“We’re not real sure what the reason for it was,” he added. “We don’t have a lot of information on it. There’s not video or anything we can wrap our hands around. Our detectives are out working it. We have intelligence we’re trying to gather about folks who may have done it.”
Faisal Naeem, who sits on the mosque’s board, told BuzzFeed News he was surprised by the incident, having previously found the Austin metro area to be relatively liberal for Texas.
"We've never had anything like this at our mosque, nor any very visible negative reactions," he said. "This was the first one and there wasn't any prior threats."
Naeem would not speculate as to whether whoever was behind the vandalism was motivated by a desire to seek vengeance for the Paris attacks. Making assumptions about the negative behavior of others, he said, is what Islamophobes do.
"Being a Muslim, part of the Islamic faith, there are so many times when people assume all Muslims are like these terrorists in Paris," he said. "Those are assumptions and generalizations, so I don't assume anything."
However, Sarwat Husain, president of the San Antonio chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told BuzzFeed News that Paris was likely a motivating factor.
"Of course we suspect that because it occurred right after that," she said. "They never had any incidents before this."
3. Threats to "shoot up a mosque" near Houston, Texas
Pflugerville Police Department
On Tuesday, Nov. 17, a 26-year-old man was arrested near Houston, Texas, for allegedly saying he would "shoot up a mosque" to avenge the Paris attacks.
Clayton Alexander Cansler of New Territory was arrested after he allegedly wrote to a friend that he would attack the Islamic place of worship and uploaded a picture to Facebook of an assault rifle and ammunition, the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office said.
The Bible verse from Joshua 1:9 that allegedly accompanied the photo of the weapons states: "Be strong and courages. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
A person in New Jersey then called police, who notified the authorities in Fort Bend County.
"Sheriff’s deputies noted the suspect’s home is in close proximity to a Mosque and responded quickly to the home," the Sheriff's Office said.
Cansler was arrested at the local airport where he works.
Bob Haenel, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, told BuzzFeed News that authorities did not discover any weapons at Cansler's house.
Cansler was charged with making a terroristic threat and released Wednesday morning after posting a $10,000 bond.
4. Islamic Center vandalized in Omaha, Nebraska
CAIR on Monday requested the FBI investigate vandalism that appeared on an Islamic center in Omaha, Nebraska.
The symbol of the Eiffel Tower peace sign, which has circulated online after the Paris attacks a powerful signal of solidarity, was spray-painted onto an outside wall of the mosque.
Local police did not immediately return a request for comment, but CAIR said it's the third time the mosque has been vandalized in the past four months.
"Looking at the symbol itself, yes, it's a good thing," Omaha Islamic Center chairman Mohammed Rasheed told local station KETV. "But putting it on a mosque — it's like you're relating it to the Muslims."
He added that he is worried for the safety of his fellow worshippers.
"They need to have some motivation and unfortunately hate looks like the motivating factor here," Rasheed said.
In a statement to local media, the local mosque on Monday strongly condemned the attacks as Paris, describing ISIS as "un-Islamic and morally repugnant."
5. Mosque fired upon in Connecticut
Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office
In Connecticut, the FBI is investigating bullet holes that were discovered in the Baitul Aman Mosque in Meriden, the Associated Press reported.
Members of the mosque discovered it had apparently been targeted by a shooting when they arrived for evening prayer on Sunday, Nov. 15.
Calls to local police and the mosque were not immediately returned.
Charles Grady, FBI outreach specialist for the New Haven division, told BuzzFeed News that investigators have not yet classified the incident as a hate crime.
"The investigation is still ongoing and it won't be classified until there's some clarity," he said.
However, Salaam Bhatti, a spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, of which the mosque is a member, told NBC News that one of the bullets pierced multiple walls before exiting out the back.
"The first reaction was, 'Thank God nobody was here," Bhatti said, adding that "true Islam" is about community building and reaching out to neighbors.
"These things that make us a stronger community," Bhatti said. "That is what Islam is about, not killing innocent people."
6. Muslim student's dorm room vandalized in Connecticut
A 2008 booking photo of Martin Schnitzler when he was arrested for DUI.
Pinellas County Sheriff's Office
Also in Connecticut, a Muslim student at UConn found the words “killed Paris” written under his dorm room name tag over the weekend, local media reported.
Campus police are now investigating whether a hate crime occurred.
Mahmoud Hashem, a junior at the university, told WILX News his roommate was the first to notice that the words written on his dorm room name tag.
He said both he and his roommate were deeply offended by the incident.
At a rally for tolerance at the university on Monday, Hashem told the crwod that he first thought his friend was joking when he was told someone had written some "bad words" under his name tag.
"So when I go and find out that I was so upset. I actually cried at first, but then I heard my roommates talk with each other and they take pictures and called the [resident advisor]," he said. "I was so happy because they are the first people who support me."
This list will be updated as more incidents occur.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1MTU1pG
No comments:
Post a Comment