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Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., issued an open letter calling upon Muslim leadership in the U.S. to condemn a spate of recent attacks in the country, arguing that their silence “legitimizes the concerns of millions of Americans” about Islam.
He specifically indicated that the message was directed toward “Mosques, Imams, and Muslim Religious Leaders Across the United States.”
In the letter, Ogles, who serves on the House Homeland Security Committee, ran through a list of four recent incidents being investigated as acts or potential acts of terrorism on U.S. soil, and then declared, “To this day, zero American mosques have publicly condemned this pattern of Islamic bloodshed and disavowed the attackers. This silence legitimizes the concerns of millions of Americans that Islam requires such violence.”
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“I challenge America’s more than 3,000 mosques to publicly and unequivocally condemn these specific attacks, disavow the perpetrators, reject any religious justification for terrorism, and state clearly that murdering innocents or targeting houses of worship has no place in Islam or America,” he wrote.
Ogles specifically pointed to four incidents, including the March 1 shooting in Austin, Texas, the March 7 attempt to detonate explosives near Gracie Mansion in New York City, a March 12 attack in which the perpetrator rammed a vehicle into the Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, and opened fire, and a March 12 shooting episode at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Viriginia.
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“Issue statements from your pulpits, post them online, and share them widely. America is watching. Your voices can isolate extremists, protect Americans, and preserve peace,” Ogles said in his message.
“I stand ready for dialogue with leaders committed to this. However, if no such peace is desired, I will not cease to further legislate and advocate that violent Islamists have no place in American culture, life, and civil government,” he wrote.
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Ogles asserted in a post on X last week that “Muslims don’t belong in American society,” and “Pluralism is a lie.”
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