Suspicious letter reaches D.C. office of Muslim-advocacy group
The Capitol Hill office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations was temporarily evacuated Thursday after the arrival of a hate letter containing a foreign substance, the advocacy organization said.
The letter that came into contact with three staffers was ultimately determined to be safe, according to a statement released by CAIR. The incident comes as Muslim Americans say they are feeling heightened tensions against them, in the wake of the fatal shootings last week of 14 in San Bernardino, Calif., by a couple that appeared to embrace radical jihad beliefs,and continued derogatory comments about the Muslim-American community from Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
Washington's Metropolitan Police Department confirmed it responded to a call regarding a suspicious package at the office, and said traffic near the office was shut off during the evacuation.
"We receive hate messages daily because of our advocacy on behalf of the American Muslim community," Maha Sayed, a lawyer with CAIR's civil rights department, said in a statement. "It's frightening to experience the hate manifest itself to such a real level. This will not deter us from continuing to protect the civil rights and liberties of all Americans."