By Another day, another Islamophobic event by white Americans to have us fear for our lives.
In more than 20 cities across the United States, anti-Muslim rallies have been scheduled to take place planned through the Facebook page titled ironically “Global Rally for Humanity.”
The page encourages “patriots” across the United States to set up protests with specified Facebook pages for individual cities, and says to “remember to do your homework and find a local mosque in your area.” Here is a map of the locations listed thus far.
This particular brand of hate group called The Oath Keepers plans to attend mosques on Oct. 9 and 10 nationwide and may be armed. Remember, some states are open-carry. A few organizers claim to have opted against weapons, but obviously — we urge you to be cautious regardless.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has issued a warning to mosques in the U.S. to take additional safety measures.
There isn’t a clear estimate as to how many of these rallies will actually happen and how many will attend, and several cities have already cancelled the events.
Civil Rights activist groups have also urged Sikhs and other similarly targeted groups to stay alert – because of course Islamophobia often tends to go hand-in-hand with other forms of racism among the vast sea of bigotry.
Jon Ritzheimer, unofficially the founder of the protest as well as others in the past — is a former Marine who organized an anti-Islam rally in Phoenix in May of this year by the name of “Freedom of Speech Rally.” He has created a Facebook group to host another one Oct. 10 at the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix. 107 people have confirmed, with another 55 showing a possibility of attending.
The group calls for all “Patriots, Veterans, Bikers, Militia, Reservists, active-duty Infidels and all AMERICANS who still LOVE LIBERTY and cling to the CONSTITUTION!!”
So we want to make sure you are safe this weekend. Use the hashtag #HateUnchecked on all forms of social media to raise more awareness. Have your phones ready to record if anything goes down. Stay strong.
The Islamic Society of North America also recommends these instructions from their website.
For the sake of safety, please do the following:
- Stay Calm, peaceful and do not engage with protesters.
- Do not invite protesters into the mosque for dialogue.
- Notify the police if you live in a target city.
- Check to make sure that all Mosque security cameras and locks are working properly.
- Prepare a Security Checklist and make sure to have it available for key employees; perhaps post it on the Masjid website.
- All federal agencies are emphasizing, “If you See Something, Say Something” immediately.
- Encourage Imams to give a Khutbah on these anti-Muslim rallies in order to inform the congregants about how best to respond.
- Be mindful that the Sikhs, often times, are mistaken for Muslims and are wrongly targeted. Please reach out to any Sikh friends, neighbors, temples and inform them of these threats.
- ISNA has been in contact with numerous federal agencies, i.e. the F.B.I., U.S. Dept. of Justice and US Dept. of Homeland Security, and all of these agencies are aware of the protests and are communicating with local branches to ensure proper execution of security measures in the case of a real threat.
- For more information on Protecting Houses of Worship, please visit the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security’s FEMA website.
- For Dept. of Homeland outreach and mosque security trainings, you may email nicc@dhs.gov or emailcommunityengagement@hq.dhs.gov.
- For Dept. of Justice cultural competency training.
- To report threats, email the FBI.