(WASHINGTON, DC – 5/16/2022) – The US Council of Muslim Organizations, on behalf of our member institutions and American Muslims, mourns the loss of our ten brothers and sisters senselessly gunned down by an armor-clad white supremacist teen simply because they were African Americans or at a grocery store in a predominantly African American Buffalo, New York neighborhood; and we utterly condemn this mass murder and the spreading lethal racist ideology that has motivated it.
“We send our sincerest condolences and deepe
st sympathies to the families and loved ones of our dear brothers and sisters, killed in cold blood for no other reason but vicious, bigoted hate because of their skin color,” said Oussama Jammal, USCMO’s secretary-general.
“How many more have to fall in a hail of bullets for us to put an end to this American assault weapons epidemic that is killing our children, our elderly, our most vulnerable? When will we put an end to the hate-filled teachings and socially – not only tolerated but promoted – outlooks that are driving this mass murder madness based on literally the most superficial aspects of our humanity – our skin colors and our ethnicities, or because politicians and power mongers have systematically, cynically poisoned the public mind against us for our religious convictions?”
Just two months ago plans were foiled for three teens to attack mosques, and possibly synagogues, in Chicago. A gunman shot three Korean women four days ago in Dallas, as anti-Asian hate crimes skyrocket in the U.S., and only yesterday an assailant shot four in yet another U.S. church shooting, this one in Southern California.
The growing spate of mass killings against racial, religious, and ethnic minorities has a definite link to white supremacy, and President Joe Biden has correctly called these domestic white supremacist attacks the “most lethal terrorist threat” in the U.S. today.
There is clear evidence that the 18-year-old Buffalo grocery store mass murderer received inspiration for his white supremacist hate from the horrific 2019 mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand and from the evil Norway 2011 summer camp killer, sickly hailed now as an icon by white supremacists.
USCMO, as part of an interfaith coalition, has responded to the growing threat of violence against mosques, synagogues, temples, and churches by helping persuade the U.S. Congress to increase the funding of its Non-Profit Security Grant Program (NSGP) from $90 million to $260 million. USCMO leaders continue to work to raise this vital fund in the face of this growing domestic terrorism aimed squarely at racial minorities and religious communities and institutions.
“I cannot state it urgently enough: Our mosques, Islamic centers, and institutional leaders need to apply immediately for NSGP grants,” said Jammal. “I mean right now. We need to prepare and protect our communities and attendees from this growing onslaught of violent extremism that we are witnessing – and Muslims are definitely in the bigoted crosshairs of these lethally indoctrinated supremacist killers.”
We pray for the souls of these persecuted innocents and their families and loved ones. May God give them solace, and may God protect them and us all from the toxic mix of easy assault weapons availability and the spreading malaise of violent hate.
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