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Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Chronology of Islam in America (2017)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
May 2017 - Page Three
Two men stabbed to death standing up to Muslim hate in Portland
May 27: Two men are being hailed as heroes after they were killed while trying to stop a man from abusing two young women on a train in Portland, Oregon, because they appeared to be Muslim. Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, of North Portland, allegedly attacked the men on a MAX train at the Hollywood Transit Station at 4:30 p.m. Friday (May 26). He was charged with offenses including two counts of aggravated murder over the incident, which occurred hours before the start of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. Witnesses said at least one of the women the suspect targeted was wearing a hijab, and it appeared the abuse was religiously and racially motivated. Christian is known to locals and authorities as an active white supremacist. “He said, ‘Get off the bus, and get out of the country because you don’t pay taxes here,’” Evelin Hernandez, a passenger on the train, told KATU-TV. Three men intervened amid the suspect’s “ranting and raving,” Portland police spokesman Pete Simpson said during a news conference. “They were attacked viciously by the suspect.” Police said one of the men who intervened died on the train. The other died later in hospital, while the third man was treated for non-life threatening injuries. Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, identified by friends and family as one of the men who died standing up to hate, is being hailed as a hero.
Police booked Jeremy Joseph Christian
Police booked Christian into the Multnomah County Jail early Saturday. Along with the aggravated murder charges, he faces two counts of intimidation in the second degree, one of attempted murder and one count of being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon. Christian has previously been convicted for felony robbery, kidnapping and possession of weapons. He will be arraigned in Multnomah County Court on Tuesday, where he may face additional charges, authorities say. Police said Saturday they were familiar with Christian from previous encounters but did not consider him a threat to public safety at the time. The investigation is looking into Christian’s “extremist ideology,” but a spokesman also noted that Christian had not been flagged as a member of a criminal gang. His ties to white supremacy include attending local rallies, according to authorities. On April 29, police confiscated a baseball bat from him at a “March for Free Speech” rally, after which he screamed racial epithets and gave the Nazi salute throughout the day, the Portland Mercury reports.
Council on American-Islamic Relations
The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement in response to the attack Friday calling on President Donald Trump to speak out against anti-Muslim incidents, which it said had increased more than 50 percent in the U.S. from 2015 to 2016. “President Trump must speak out personally against the rising tide of Islamophobia and other forms of bigotry and racism in our nation that he has provoked through his numerous statements, policies and appointments that have negatively impacted minority communities,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “Only a strong statement from the nation’s leader will send a message to bigots that such acts of violence targeting racial, ethnic or religious minorities are unacceptable.” [Huffington Post]
Feds urged to probe allegedly bias-motivated arson at Texas Muslim-owned business
May 30: The San Antonio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-San Antonio) today called on local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate an allegedly bias-motivated arson in that state as a hate crime. Police in Mathis, Texas, confirmed to CAIR that an alleged arson attack last Tuesday on a Muslim-owned convenience store may have been bias-motivated. The store owner says he had previously reported threats to burn the business, including alleged statements such as, "You are Muslim, we are going to burn your store." "We believe this disturbing case, like similar incidents targeting American Muslims and other minority groups, is a symptom of the unprecedented spike in Islamophobia nationwide, and must be strongly condemned by local and national leaders," said CAIR-San Antonio President Sarwat Husain. "We urge law enforcement authorities to send a strong message of support for the Texas Muslim community by conducting a speedy investigation and bringing appropriate hate crime charges against the perpetrators." On Saturday, CAIR's Oregon Ad Hoc Committee on took part in a candlelight vigil for men killed and injured as they sought to defend a Muslim woman and her friend from an attacker shouting Islamophobic and racist slurs.[CAIR]
A New Jersey town denied Muslims a mosque. Now it must pay them $3.25 million.
May 31: The worshipers waited four years and 39 public hearings for the official denial: Muslims in their small New Jersey town would not be allowed to build a mosque. The 2015 decision made by the planning board in Bernards Township, N.J., a majority-white suburb of 26,000 people, came after significant public opposition to the mosque that thrust the community into the national spotlight and spurred religious discrimination lawsuits from the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge and the Department of Justice. On Tuesday, the township learned the cost of its six-year-old decision: $3.25 million. As part of a settlement of the suits, the township must allow construction of the mosque to begin at its original proposed location, according to the Justice Department. Bernards Township will pay the Islamic Society $1.5 million in damages and $1.75 million in attorney fees and require town officials to submit to diversity and inclusion training. "Municipalities around the country should pay close attention to what happened in Bernards Township," Adeel A. Mangi, lead counsel for the mosque, told My Central Jersey. "The American Muslim community has the legal resources, the allies and the determination to stand up for its constitutional rights in court and will do so." [The Washington Post]
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