(PHILADELPHIA, PA, 8/5/19) — The Philadelphia Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization (CAIR-Philadelphia) today said “blood of the El Paso shooting victims leads directly to the White House door.” The shooter in the deadly attack in Texas allegedly issued a manifesto in which he said he was inspired by the massacre of Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand, by a white supremacist, and alarmed by “the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”
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In a statement, CAIR-Philadelphia Executive Director Jacob Bender said:
“The alleged shooter’s ‘manifesto’ quite clearly and tragically echoes the president’s racist rhetoric about the migrant ‘invasion’ of America. We as a nation need to wake up to the harm being done to the fabric of our nation and to its democratic foundation by a president who actively promotes hatred, racism, white supremacy, Islamophobia, and xenophobia in an effort to gain personal political advantage.
“Although we are pleased that the Department of Justice has labeled the El Paso killings a case of ‘white supremacist domestic terrorism,’ this is clearly a case of too little, too late. CAIR-Philadelphia calls for new law enforcement efforts to investigate and prosecute white nationalist extremists across the country.”
CAIR has previously reported an unprecedented spike in bigotry targeting American Muslims, immigrants and members of other minority groups since the election of Donald Trump as president.
CAIR-Philadelphia has repeatedly expressed concern about Islamophobic, white supremacist and racist Trump administration rhetoric, policies and appointments.
SEE: CAIR Condemns Trump’s Racist ‘Go Back’ Where ‘They Came’ From Tweets Targeting Congresswomen
