It’s hardly a surprise that the shooters who killed three people at a California mosque May 18 were motivated by hate, said the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
CAIR made the statement after authorities revealed the two San Diego teens met online and shared a “broad hatred” toward different races and religions, including Islam.
“Hate against American Muslims is completely out of control. Numerous politicians have spent the past year claiming that all ‘mainstream Muslims’ should be destroyed, that American mosques and elementary schools should be shut down, and that American Muslims should be expelled from our nation,” the Washington, D.C.-based civil rights group said.
Republican legislators have become increasingly obsessed with Islam and have made the alleged threat of Sharia Law and the very presence of Muslims top campaign priorities heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
Randy Fine
Among the most incendiary has been U.S. Rep. Randy Fine. The Florida Republican has been prolific with racist and anti-Muslim slurs and once called for Palestine to be nuked.
The governors of Florida and Texas have gotten into the act by labeling organizations, including CAIR, as terrorist organizations. In fact, the Center for the Study of Organized Hate identified a social media post by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as the genesis of the current wave of Republican Islamophobia.
“Time and time again, we have seen hate speech like this can lead to hate crimes,” CAIR said. “The mass shooters who massacred families at the Christchurch mosques in New Zealand and worshipers at a mosque in Quebec all embraced the rhetoric of prominent anti-Muslim extremists. Just last week, House Republicans held a congressional hearing to fan the flames of hate against American Muslims, their houses of worship and even Muslim school children.”
Investigators are now trying to determine what motivated the 17- and 18-year-old killers to attack the Islamic Center of San Diego.
In a press conference, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said authorities received a phone call from a woman shortly before 10 a.m. May 18 reporting several of her firearms and her vehicle were missing. She added her son, who she thought may be suicidal, was with another teen and both were wearing camouflage clothing.
Then around 11:45 a.m., police received a call about an active shooter at the Islamic center. Officers quickly arrived and learned three individuals, including a security guard, had been killed. Another call alerted police that a landscaper had been fired upon nearby, and it was in investigating that incident that a parked vehicle had been located with the two dead suspects inside, Wahl said.
Mark Remily, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego field office, later reported that some of the writings of the shooters had been uncovered and were being studied to determine what ideologies may have motivated the pair. Authorities also recovered 30 firearms and a crossbow from the residences of the teens.
Todd Gloria
An angry San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said the shootings have shaken the city and that “no one in our city should live in fear because of their identity or faith.”
The city stands behind the Muslim Community, he added. “Hate has no home in San Diego; homophobia has no place in San Diego. Anyone who seeks to bring this kind of violence to this city, you will be met by the full force our law enforcement agencies.”
But the attack was as predictable as it was unacceptable, CAIR claimed. “Anti-Muslim hatred is one of the last acceptable forms of bigotry in American society, and it is long past time for the tolerance of this hate to end.”
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