North Texas Muslim leaders are calling on public officials to speak out after a man spewing anti-Islamic slurs harassed a group praying at a park in Plano.
In a video circulating on social media, a man is seen shouting “disgusting fake religion” and calling the group “wicked devils” who will “go to hell” if they do not repent, among other insults.
Members of Islamic Relief at the University of Texas at Dallas were gathered at the park Sunday morning for a Barakah Breakfast, a community event focused on reflection, connection and service. The group can be heard praying while the man yells.
“As Muslims, we are taught to respond to such incidents not with anger or insults, but with peace, patience, respect and dignity,” the service-based group wrote on Instagram.
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Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of CAIR’s Dallas-Fort Worth chapter, asked “elected officials at every level of government” to condemn the anti-Muslim bigotry.
“No one should be harassed, threatened, or intimidated for peacefully practicing their faith,” Carroll said in a statement. “The hateful rhetoric reportedly directed at these worshippers is deeply offensive and dangerous.”
Muslim leaders say the Plano encounter reflects a broader and worrisome growth in anti-Islamic rhetoric among some Republican lawmakers.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has said he is fighting “radical Islam” in ads this year. Last month, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said “preventing Sharia law” in Texas will be among his major priorities for the next legislative session.
Attorney General Ken Paxton announced last week an investigation into a planned development in Kaufman County, calling the project a “potentially unlawful ‘sharia city.’” On Monday, Paxton filed a second lawsuit related to a planned Muslim-centric development in Collin and Hunt counties with ties to the East Plano Islamic Center.
CAIR itself has come under attack, as well. In November, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he was designating the Muslim advocacy and civil rights organization a foreign terrorist group. Abbott accused the group of trying to “forcibly impose Sharia law,” the moral code laid out in Muslim scriptures.
“These radical extremists are not welcome in our state,” Abbott said at the time.
The incident in Plano has raised concerns within the local Muslim community about safely practicing their faith, CAIR said in a statement.
“When public officials traffic in fearmongering and misinformation about Islam and Muslim institutions, it creates an environment in which bias incidents like this become more likely,” the organization said.