One reason Muslims need their own civil rights organizations is that traditional civil rights groups often ignore anti-Muslim, anti-South Asian and anti-Arab attacks in their reports, thereby obscuring the real extent of the problem.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a prominent civil rights and anti-hate organization, has produced a report, “Terror from the Right: 75 plots, conspiracies and racist rampages since Oklahoma City.” Of the 75 listed only one involved attacks on Muslims (St. Petersberg, FL, 2002). It’s not credible that in the eight years since September 11th and the Islamophobic swell of fear and hatred it prompted, that only one attack could have made the cut. Here’s how SPLC describes its list:
What follows is a detailed listing of major terrorist plots and racist rampages that have emerged from the American radical right in the years since Oklahoma City. These have included plans to bomb government buildings, banks, refineries, utilities, clinics, synagogues, mosques, memorials and bridges; to assassinate police officers, judges, politicians, civil rights figures and others; to rob banks, armored cars and other criminals; and to amass illegal machine guns, missiles, explosives and biological and chemical weapons. Each of these plots aimed to make changes in America through the use of political violence. Most contemplated the deaths of large numbers of people — in one case, as many as 30,000, or 10 times the number murdered on Sept. 11, 2001.
Neither the recent suspicious death of an imam in Southern California nor the assault on a Muslim woman in Seattle are mentioned anywhere on the site.
Below the jump, a list of eight acts of violence perpetrated against Muslims (or people mistaken as Muslims) since September 11th, 2001, that prompted federal prosecution as reported by the US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, only one of which appears on the SPLC list:
Columbia, Tennessee: Jonathan Edward Stone and Michael Corey Golden pleaded guilty on November 3, 2008, to damaging religious property and using an explosive device to burn the Islamic Center to the ground on February 9, 2008. A third defendant, Eric Ian Baker, remains charged with conspiracy, damaging religious property, destruction of a building used in interstate commerce, and other charges in connection with the firebombing.
Washington, D.C.: Patrick Syring pleaded guilty on June 12, 2008, to sending several email and voice mail threats to the Director of the Arab American Institute, as well as staff members, at their office in Washington, D.C. in 2006. On July 11, 2008, Syring was sentenced to 12 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release, as well as 100 hours of community service and a $10,000 fine.
Burbank, Illinois: Eric Kenneth Nix pleaded guilty on March 6, 2006 to blowing up the van of a Palestinian-American family that was parked in front of the family’s home. Nix pleaded guilty to a felony violation of 42 U.S.C. § 3631, which prohibits threats or violence that interfere with fair housing rights. He received a 15-month prison sentence on August 22, 2006. Daniel R. Alba, who provided Nix with the commercial fireworks device he used in the crime and then lied about it to federal investigators, received a sentence of six months home confinement on March 14, 2006.
El Paso, Texas: Antonio Nunez-Flores pled guilty on March 22, 2005 to throwing an incendiary device at the Islamic Center of El Paso Mosque. The device, commonly referred to as a “Molotov Cocktail,” scorched the ground but did not explode. Children who were playing nearby ran away as the device landed and shattered. A second device was found and extinguished before it could explode. On June 22, 2005, Nunez-Flores was sentenced to 171 months in prison.
Sacramento, California: Matthew John Burdick pled guilty to assaulting a federal employee while engaged in his official duties on May 28, 2003, for shooting and wounding a Sikh postal carrier with a high-powered pellet rifle. The victim sustained a severe injury to his neck that required surgery and caused him to miss several months of work. On September 17, 2003, Burdick was sentenced to 70 months in prison and ordered to pay $25,395 in restitution.
St. Petersburg, Florida: Four defendants obtained substantial prison sentences plotting to destroy the Islamic Education Center. On April 3, 2003, Dr. Robert Goldstein pled guilty to conspiracy to violate civil rights, attempted destruction of religious property, and firearms violations. Goldstein was sentenced to 151 months in prison. His wife, Kristi, had previously pled guilty to firearms violations and been sentenced to 37 months in prison. Dr. Michael Hardee pled guilty to conspiracy to violate civil rights, conspiracy to detonate explosive devices, and firearms violations, and was sentenced to 41 months in prison. A fourth defendant, Samuel Shannahan, pled guilty to a firearms offense and was sentenced to 56 months in prison.
Seattle, Washington: Patrick Cunningham pled guilty on May 9, 2002, for attempting, two days after September 11, 2001, to set fire to cars in the parking lot of Seattle’s Islamic Idriss Mosque. He then fired a gun at worshipers who exited the mosque, and then fled. He was apprehended by police after crashing his vehicle. On December 17, 2002, Cunningham was sentenced to 78 months incarceration.
Salt Lake City, Utah: James Herrick pled guilty to pouring gasoline on the wall of a Pakistani-American restaurant on September 13, 2001, and lighting it in an attempt to destroy the building. He was sentenced on January 7, 2002 to 51 months incarceration.
