The Council on American-Islamic Relations called for increased police protection of local mosques after letters that threatened the genocide of Muslims and praised President-elect Donald Trump were sent to several California mosques this past week.
The letters were sent to the Islamic Center of Long Beach and the Islamic Center of Claremont, CAIR's greater Los Angeles chapter said in a statement. An identical letter also was sent to the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose, according to CAIR's San Francisco Bay Area chapter.
The handwritten letter, which appeared to have been photocopied, was addressed to "the children of Satan" and called Muslims a "vile and filthy people."
"Your day of reckoning has arrived," the letter states, according to CAIR-LA. "There's a new sheriff in town _ President Donald Trump. He's going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, he's going to start with you Muslims."
The letter, signed only by "Americans for a Better Way," said Trump was "going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews."
Both the Los Angeles and Bay Area chapters of CAIR have called for increased cooperation with law enforcement agencies to protect mosques.
"This hate campaign targeting California houses of worship must be investigated as an act of religious intimidation, and our state's leaders should speak out against growing anti-Muslim bigotry that leads to such incidents," Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR-LA, said in a statement.
