Threatening Letter Sent To McHenry County Mosque, Islamic Group Says

The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations claims that a letter was sent to a relatively new McHenry County mosque warning members to “keep you (sic) eyes open” and other threats.

The American Muslim Community Organization mosque in Lake in the Hills said it received the letter on Feb. 6, the civil liberties group reported.

Excerpts from the letter include, “We are praying for civil war so we can start shooting you slime bags,” “We can’t wait until it’s ok to start bombing you f***ers and your kids so we can reduce the number of slime bags being born into this world, of ours,” and “You like your radical relatives serve no positive purpose on earth. Keep you (sic) eyes open.”

Mosque board president Dr. Fazel Khan called the hate letter “disheartening.”

“We are taking all sensible precautions to protect our patrons, and we thank our local community, police department, and faith organizations who continue to support a safe, diverse, and cooperative community,” Khan said in a press release..

CAIR-Chicago claims that hate incidents against Muslims have spiked in the Chicago area over the past several weeks as well as other parts of the country.

The McHenry County hate letter and other recent similar incidents targeting Muslims in the Chicago region were addressed at a CAIR-Chicago press conference on Feb. 20.

The Chicago chapter has alleged that anti-Arab graffiti was found scrawled on the wall of a boys’ bathroom at Sandburg High School in Orland Park in Feb. 5.

CAIR-Chicago’s executive director Ahmed Rehab said that his office also received a threatening phone call at its executive officers the day of its press conference from a caller purporting to be from a group called “the crusaders of America.”

The caller said, “The crusaders of America are coming to kill you and your terrorist friends. We are coming for you,” then immediately hung up.

“In all cases, the misguided hate messages and death threats target innocent individuals that have nothing to do with news headlines people may be reacting to,” Rehab said. “[President Obama’s] recent remarks about American Muslims are important and timely, and we need to see more politicians including Illinois politicians speak up for sanity.”