Anti-Muslim incidents on rise in US

The US is experiencing a spike in anti-Muslim crimes and mosques are one of the prime targets, according to civil rights activists within the Muslim American community.

The US is experiencing a spike in anti-Muslim crimes and mosques are one of the prime targets, according to civil rights activists within the Muslim American community.

Fifty-five mosques in the US have been targeted so far this year, making 2016 one of the worst years on record for anti-mosque incidents, according to new report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy organization. 

In 2015, there were 79 recorded incidents, the highest number reported in a single year since experts began tracking the data in 2009, according to CAIR. In 2009, 13 mosques reported incidents.

“American Muslims in the US are very worried about their safety, the safety of their families, the safety of their institutions, and they don’t feel that they’re safe to go out,” said Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR.

Three mosques were targeted this month, all of them occurring on or around the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.