Florida leads all but six states for reports of anti-mosque activity and is home to three groups focused on spreading fears about Muslims, according to an Islamic advocacy group.
A newly-released report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations documented six cases of vandalism, harassment, intimidation and government bias against Florida mosques from 2013 through 2015. Only five states had a higher tally, and New Jersey tied Florida.
“Florida is a hub for a lot of these hate crimes against the mosques and Muslims,” Rasha Mubarak, Orlando regional coordinator for CAIR-Florida, said at a news conference today.
The report, prepared by CAIR and the Center for Race and Gender at the University of California, Berkeley, also describes a sprawling network of organizations that promote Islamophobic messages.
Thirty-three groups, including three from Florida, form this network’s inner core and took in more than $200 million in revenues from 2008 to 2013, the report authors found by analyzing public tax filings.
Mubarak said the analysis illustrates how deep-pocketed activists influence legislation and inject anti-Islamic sentiment into the mainstream dialogue in which GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has even called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S.
She offered examples from Florida including a gun-store owner who last year declared his business a “Muslim Free Zone” and a 2014 state bill that emerged from parental furor over school textbooks some considered pro-Islam.
While the shootings in San Bernardino, Calif., and at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando have caused short-term spikes in Islamophobic activity, recent years have also seen a steady overall climb in fear-mongering, bullying and hate crimes targeting Muslims, said Thania Clevenger, CAIR-Florida civil-rights director.
Clevenger said her group documented five hate-related incidents, such as threats or vandalism, against Florida Muslims in 2014. The number of reports soared to 26 in 2015.
“This is an ongoing thing,” she said.
The CAIR analysis suggests combating anti-Islamic sentiment by encouraging Muslims to support social justice causes, representing Islamophobia as a form of prejudice, highlighting the diversity of Islamic viewpoints and deepening engagement in U.S. politics and policy.
The Florida groups identified by the report as part of the “Islamophobia network’s inner core” are the Citizens for National Security in Boca Raton, the Florida Family Association in Tampa and the United West in Lake Worth.
William Saxton, chairman of Citizens for National Security, said CAIR has a slanted perspective and that it is “outrageous and totally false” to label his group Islamophobic.
Citizens for National Security bills itself as a research group “that highlights and exposes the threat of radical Islam” in the U.S., according to its website. Saxton said his group doesn’t object to the peaceful practice of Islam.
The Florida Family Association and United West raised alarm about an alleged Muslim agenda to impose sharia law, or Islamic law, on American government.
Representatives from Florida Family Association and United West did not respond to messages seeking comment.