U.S. mosques see heightened security concerns for Ramadan

In addition to cooking, praying and decorating, some Muslims around the country are preparing for the holy month of Ramadan, which begins Tuesday, in a solemn new way: active-shooter training.

In addition to cooking, praying and decorating, some Muslims around the country are preparing for the holy month of Ramadan, which begins Tuesday, in a solemn new way: active-shooter training.

A string of recent high-profile attacks on houses of worship, including one in March in Christchurch, New Zealand, that killed 51 Muslim worshipers, has led more U.S. mosques this year to take up the topic of security. Their approaches include conducting preparedness drills, hiring armed or undercover security officers, training volunteers, installing cameras and adding locks.

According to FBI hate-crime statistics, the total number of religion-based bias incidents in the United States has been climbing for years, with the most common targets being Jews and Muslims. In 2017, the most recent year that FBI data was available, there were 938 anti-Jewish incidents and 273 anti-Muslim incidents — both categories that have been rising in number in recent years.