ATLANTA – Several Islamic leaders in Atlanta, some part of a council by the name of “CAIR,” and “IMAN,” have called on America’s elected leaders to stand with them and condemn the bigotry they feel has been on display following the mass shootings at two mosques in New Zealand on Friday.
“As the community of the world continues to see this type of behavior, we stand together. We stand focused on the day-to-day community life that we are striving to build as one human family, as one human race,” Mansoor Sabree, director of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, stated against bigotry.
Last week in New Zealand, at least 49 people were killed at two mosques in Central Christchurch. A 28 year old man has been charged with the shooting and two others are in custody. Most of those who were killed were at Al Noor Mosque, worshipping, when the gunman entered. There was a second shooting at Linwood Mosque, three miles away from the Al Noor Mosque. Seven of the 49 of victims died at Linwood.
The shooter is said to have posted a 74 page, hate piece online. He claimed to be representative of Europeans and white people in a battle against immigrants. This hate piece showed that he had been planning the attack for two years.
One of the worst parts of all, 17 minutes of the attack was streamed on Facebook. Twitter, Google (YouTube) are working to remove every video of the shootings from their sites.
The country’s most deadly shooting prior to this occurred in 1990.
CAIR-Georgia plans to hold a press conference and is calling local law enforcement to guard local mosques during Islamic prayer services today.
The police departments of Gwinnett County and Atlanta have since then affirmed that they will be increasing security around local mosques. Corporal, Michele Pihera of Gwinnett County stated, “We hope to bring some measure of comfort to those who visit these places of worship during this difficult time.”
Georgia Governor, Brian Kemp provided a statement, supportive of the mass shooting victims.
President Donald Trump also showed his support with a tweet of his own.
