Muslims in America are finding themselves subjected to a "perfect storm of hate," as CNN puts it, ever since the terrorist attacks launched admittedly by the Islamic State (ISIS) in Paris, a storm made even worse by the Dec. 2 massacre in San Bernardino, California perpetrated by a radical Muslim couple.
Numerous incidents have been reported across America where American Muslims have been the target of harassment by angry citizens amid a steady stream of anti-Muslim rhetoric notably from the camp of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, CNN reported.
On Tuesday, about six incidents of harassment were reported, including the throwing of a pig's head at a mosque in Philadephia, which also received a threatening voice mail. That gesture was particularly offensive to Muslims since pork is forbidden in Islam.
"It's just pretty regular now that we're getting reports of incidents," said Ibrahim Hooper from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
"We got so many threats lately," Hooper said, adding that he has stopped counting them because they're too many.
Hooper said the flames of hate grew bigger following Trump's inflammatory proposal to bar Muslims from entering the U.S. "It may not be so much San Bernardino but Donald Trump keeping it going," Hooper said.
Rep. André Carson, a Muslim lawmaker from Indiana, said he has received death threats from unknown citizens. He said he believes Trump's rhetoric may have encouraged them.
CAIR offices and mosques across the nation are also receiving threatening phone calls, Hooper said. One threat made against CAIR's office in St. Louis was so bad that police arrested the caller.
Online, the xenophobic attacks on Muslim Americans are also clogging social media sites.
In New York, a Muslim resident was mauled by a man who said he was going to kill Muslims, according to local media reports.
Muslim American women who wear headscarves to identify themselves with their faith have become visible targets for harassment, often by men, CAIR said.
In Cincinnati, a driver tried to run down a young Muslim woman.
In New York City, a customer called a female pharmacist wearing a headscarf a terrorist and told her to "get out of his country."
In San Diego, a man shoved a pregnant Muslim mother's stroller into her belly and a San Diego State student reported a man tugged at her headscarf while yelling at her in a parking lot, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"It's not unexpected at all. In fact, it's what my research shows—that Muslim women will be targeted because they are more easily identifiable; they can't pass as non-Muslim," said Sahar Aziz, an associate professor at Texas A&M School of Law.
Some Muslim women in the U.S. have stopped wearing headscarves to avoid being targeted, Aziz said.
