海角大神

An Islamic advocacy group is calling for increased police presence around several California mosques after they received letters that celebrated Donald Trump鈥檚 election victory and likened his plans to target Muslims to Adolf Hitler鈥檚 genocide of Jews in Nazi Germany.

The letter is just one of hundreds of hateful incidents sparked by the election鈥檚 outcome, which has seen people purporting to support Mr. Trump engage in violence, vandalism, and hateful speech. In the week after the election, the Southern Poverty Law Center found a spike of , 51 of which involved Muslims. While the bulk of those occurred during the first few days following the election, other incidents, like these letters sent last week, could indicate that hateful incidents targeting minorities based on religion, sexual orientation, gender, race, or place or origin aren鈥檛 necessarily subsiding.

The identical, handwritten letters arrived at the Islamic Center of Long Beach, the Islamic Center of Claremont, the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose on Wednesday. Each was addressed to 鈥渢he children of Satan鈥� and referred to Muslims as 鈥渁 filthy and vile people,鈥� bearing the signed name 鈥淎mericans for a Better Way.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 a new sheriff in town 鈥� President Donald Trump,鈥� the letter said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, he鈥檚 going to start with you Muslims. He鈥檚 going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews [sic].鈥�

The Council on Islamic-American Relations reported the news of the letters Saturday and denounced them in a statement.

鈥淭his hate campaign targeting California houses of worship , and our state鈥檚 leaders should speak out against the growing anti-Muslim bigotry that leads to such incidents,鈥� CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said.

Authorities in Los Angeles have vowed to crack down on hate crimes as they continue to surge in California. According to the SPLC, more than 10 percent of reported hate incidents following the election occurred in California, the highest number in any state.

鈥淎cts of hate , and we want to send a strong message that no one should be reluctant or afraid to report a hate crime,鈥� Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer told the Los Angeles Times.

Muslims in particular have been increasingly targeted. In 2015, there were , a jump from 154 the year prior, according to the FBI鈥檚 annual hate crime statistics.

But as some have reacted to the election with incidents of hate, others have responded by showing acts of kindness and support. As 海角大神 previously reported, some Americans have launched volunteer programs, including one that provides those feeling unsafe with accompaniment on their commute to work. Others say they have made an effort to peacefully engage those with different viewpoints in political discussions.

鈥淥ver the coming weeks and months I think we are going to see a lot of coalition building and finding strength and sources of hope and solidarity through these efforts,鈥� Madihha Ahussain, staff attorney at Muslim Advocates in Oakland, Calif., told the Monitor. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important for communities to come together 鈥� and I think there's been a lot of this the past few days. That, I think, brings strength to those communities who are impacted, helping them recognize that no one community is going to be alone.鈥�