Heightened security at mosques and pledged support for the Muslim community defined the widespread response of law enforcement, civic and religious leaders across the U.S. and world in the wake of thehorrific attacks Friday that claimed 49 lives at two mosques in New Zealand.
“Today we stand with the people of Christchurch, New Zealand,” said a statement Friday fromPublic Safety officials in Pittsburgh, where11 people were killed in a shooting attack last fall at the Tree of Life synagogue. “We offer our deepest condolences. And we will continue to stand united against all forms of hate.”
“We are stronger when we stand together, and together we’ll send the powerful message that all are welcome in Saint Paul,” the message said.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said security around mosques there would be increased “out of an abundance of caution,” according toThe New York Times. “New Yorkers heading to prayer can be confident that their city will protect them.”
The New Zealand attacks reflect a rising wave of intolerance in this country and elsewhere, said Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, this nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, at a news conference in Washington, D.C., reports theTimes.
“We are united against hate speech that sees immigrants as invaders,” he said. “One should not tolerate hate speech because hate speech leads to violence. Now we are looking at the result of hate speech.”
Police have two others also in custody but have not yet formally named the suspects nor their connections to the attacks.
“It would seem that Brenton Tarrant’s murderous intention was to target Muslims at their places of worship and on their sacred day,” Khan said in a statement. “As the rest of us prepare to undertake our own Friday prayers today, we do so with the anxiety as to whether our mosques and communities are safe in the face of unabated Islamophobia and hostility against Muslims. I call on our government to redouble its efforts to ensure mosques are protected, and call on fellow Muslims to resist the temptation to roll up the banners in fear, as this attack was designed to do.”
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New Zealand policeannounced on Twitterthat 41 people were killed at the Masjid al Noor mosque while seven died at the Linwood Masjid mosque; one more person died at a hospital from their injuries.
Disturbingly, the suspected male gunman live-streamed his attack on one of the mosques on social media.
Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern referred to the incident as “an extraordinary act of unprecedented violence” and considered it to be “New Zealand’s darkest day.”
“It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack,” Ardern said Friday. “From what we know, it does appear to have been well planned.”
The New York Timesreports that Moustafa Farouk, a spokesman for the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, said the attackoccurred during Friday prayer.
Ardern said New Zealand was targeted because it was a nation that celebrates multiculturalism.
“These are people who I would describe as having extremist views that absolutely no place in New Zealand and no place in the world,” Ardern added, condemning those involved.
But “the president’s rhetoric is part of the problem,” said Iman Boukadoum, a senior staff attorney with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a civil rights organization based in Washington, according to theTimes.
Ardern confirmed in a news conference on Saturday local time that the suspected shooter was an Australian who used five guns in the attacks, and did have a gun license allowing him to legally purchase his weapons, according to theBBC.
source: people.com
