California police arrests white man for threatening Muslims

SACRAMENTO, California – A sex offender in California has been arrested and charged with a hate crime for threatening Muslims.

He allegedly shouted racial slurs in a park and threatened to “shoot and bomb” Muslims.

The man, Robert Avery, also allegedly tried to run people over in the park with his car. No one was injured.

The incident occurred at Heron Landing Park in Rancho Cordova, California, where a group of about 30 Muslims were gathered.

Avery, who is white, is accused of driving up to the group and making racial slurs at them.

Less than 12 hours after the incident, Avery turned himself in to police. He was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats and a hate crime.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned the attack and urged federal authorities to consider hate crime charges against Avery.

CAIR also pointed out that this incident is just one of many recent attacks on Muslim communities in the United States.

In a resolution passed this week, the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates called on the U.S. Congress to approve a bill introduced by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar that would establish an office in the State Department to monitor Islamophobia.

According to a report last year by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), the number of Muslims who have experienced discrimination has remained unchanged.

About 60 percent of Muslims in the group’s survey said they had been discriminated against in the past half decade, including the past year.

The California incident is a reminder of the ongoing threat of hate crimes against Muslim communities. It is important to stand up against Islamophobia and all forms of discrimination.