US hostile to Muslims because of Trump, says mosque leader
The head of a US mosque that was bombed on Saturday blames Donald Trump’s campaign for creating a hostile environment for Muslims, particularly Somalis.
Mohamed Omar, executive director of the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Centre in Minnesota, said he invited the president to visit and see the damage he had caused.
“This is the time we need our leaders to show they are tough on terrorism of all kinds, including people who are bombing mosques in a peaceful neighbourhood,” Mr Omar said.
“What surprises me is that every time this happens elsewhere he sends a tweet, but not this time.”
Mr Omar was preparing for early morning prayers when the blast happened.
The FBI says a homemade bomb was thrown through the window of the imam’s office at the mosque in Bloomington, close to Minneapolis. About 20 worshippers escaped injury. A witness saw a pickup truck speeding away from the scene.
Many of the worshippers were from Minnesota’s Somalian community of 57,000, the biggest in America.
Mr Trump flew in for a campaign rally in November and said Somalian refugees were arriving without adequate screening, causing problems for the state.
“Some of them are joining ISIL and spreading their extremist views all over our country and all over the world,” he said.
Mr Omar, who is from the Somalian capital Mogadishu, said such talk puts lives at risk.
“He said very negative and inciteful things against us Muslims and particularly the Somalian community.
“If he comes to visit it is my chance to say, ‘this is what you said, people took your words literally’.
“We believe because of this rhetoric and negative statements, we are now the victims.”
Mr Trump has chosen not to address the attack. In the past, the White House has said the president is not able to address every incident.
Mark Dayton, the governor of Minnesota, described the blast as part of a terrorist attack and noted the double standards that were applied when Muslims were the victims.
“What a terrible, dastardly, cowardly terrible act this was that was committed yesterday,” he said on Sunday. “As someone said in the meeting, if the roles were reversed, it would be called a terrorist attack. And that is what it is, an act of terrorism.”
Mr Omar said he was grateful for the work of the FBI and he hoped that the culprit would soon be found.