CAIR Calls for Hate Crime Probe of Vandalism at Rhode Island Mosque, Seeks Protection for Islamic Institutions Nationwide

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/15/16) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate an apparent hate attack targeting a Rhode Island Mosque and requested stepped-up police patrols in the area of Islamic institutions nationwide.

Officials with the Muslim Community Center of Kingston’s Masjid Al-Hoda in Kingston, R.I., reported to CAIR’s Massachusetts chapter that they found anti-Muslim graffiti and a smashed window in the mosque sometime after yesterday’s terror attack in France.

Earlier today, CAIR condemned the terror attack in France that killed at least 80 people, and also condemned a suggestion by Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who responded to the attack by calling for Inquisition-style religious “testing” and possible deportation of “every person here who is of a Muslim background.”

“We will not let ourselves be divided by turning on each other or by throwing away the principles of justice and religious inclusion on which our nation was founded,” said CAIR-MA Executive Director Dr. John Robbins. “We call for stepped-up protection of America’s Islamic institutions and for the repudiation of calls to hate and division by irresponsible public figures.”

Robbins noted that CAIR recently called for unity against ISIS following a series of deadly attacks apparently carried out or inspired by that terror group in Turkey, Iraq, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia.

American Muslim organizations have consistently and repeatedly condemned terrorism in all its forms.

CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.