From Rhetoric to Violence: Statement on the attack against the Islamic Center of San Diego

We are deeply saddened and outraged by the horrific hate crime attack targeting the Islamic Center of San Diego, a place of worship and a school where children were present. This attack did not occur in a vacuum. It has taken place against a backdrop of escalating, anti-Muslim rhetoric, in which influential opinion leaders and elected officials across the country have repeatedly and deliberately demonized Muslim communities through racist and bigoted language.

We cannot divorce this terrible crime from our current political environment, where prominent voices are focused on dehumanizing Muslims and sowing division. Words have consequences. When those in positions of power cast an entire community as a threat, they provide the ideological ammunition for those who choose to act on that hate. Today, that ammunition was used against Muslims (including children) in San Diego. We mourn with the community, which lost three men: security guard Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha, and Nader Awad, who gave their lives protecting the children and worshippers inside.