At a time when some presidential candidates, elected officials, and pundits are maliciously and falsely labeling Syrian refugees, Muslims, and Black Lives Matter activists “a terrorist threat,” let’s review events of the past few days to determine who constitutes the real threat:
November 21: Armed white people carrying rifles and placards that read “Stop the Islamization of America” gathered outside a mosque in Irving, Texas with the intent of intimidating worshippers. A protester with a bandana over his face showed off his AR-15 to traffic. A 20-year-old who wanted to join the Army and ban Islam in the United States carried a Remington hunting rifle. No arrests were made.
November 21: During a rally in Birmingham, Alabama, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told security to remove a Black Lives Matter protester. Trump yelled out “get him the hell out of here” as the crowd of 3,000 went wild, booed and several people attacked Mercutio Southall and called him a “monkey” and the N-word.
November 22: Donald Trump defended those who physically attacked Southall when he appeared on Fox News, saying: “Maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.”
November 22: On ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Donald Trump called for surveillance of U.S. mosques and the creation of a database of Syrian refugees in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris. He also reiterated that he would not rule out creating a registry for all Muslims.
November 23: In Cincinnati, a pre-med student, Haneen Jasim, who was wearing her hijab, was crossing the street when a man started honking at her, cursing and calling her a terrorist. The man drove straight at her and didn’t stop. Three people nearby pulled her onto the sidewalk before the car could hurt her. The Council on American Islamic Relations said at least three Muslims in Cincinnati have been harassed or attacked in during the past week.
November 23: Five protesters were shot late Monday night by masked white men who came to disrupt a Black Lives Matter encampment at the Fourth Precinct police station in north Minneapolis. The Black Lives Matter encampment was set up to protest the police killing of Jamar Clark. Black Lives Matter activists say they had received violent threats from white supremacists during the preceding few days.
© 2015 Melanie S. Morrison – All rights reserved.