Numerous recent attacks and threats of violence against Muslims have been inspired in part by Islamophobic statements from Republican politicians, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The civil rights group on July 14 urged “elected officials and other public and community leaders to unequivocally repudiate anti-Muslim rhetoric and to reject those who promote it following the allegedly hate-motivated stabbing of a Muslim man in Utah.”
Conservatives have increasingly relied on Islamophobia to rally their MAGA base heading into the 2026 midterm elections. Republican leaders in Texas and Florida this year declared Muslim groups like CAIR to be terrorist groups, while Republicans in Congress launched the Sharia Free America Caucus.
Tommy Tuberville (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
But CAIR issued a warning July 15 that U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is stoking violence with his consistent claim that “Islam is not a religion. It’s a death cult.”
“Sen. Tuberville’s shameful and inflammatory attack on Islam is setting the stage for violence against ordinary American Muslims. When an elected official falsely labels the world’s second-largest religion a ‘death cult,’ he gives legitimacy to the same anti-Muslim hatred that fuels discrimination, harassment and acts of bias-motivated violence,” said Robert McCaw, government affairs director for CAIR.
Case in point, the organization said, was the July 13 stabbing of Syed Sohail Uddin in Salt Lake City in which the accused perpetrator, Peter Michael Larsen, said he targeted the victim because of his Muslim faith.
Earlier, authorities in New York arrested a man for a series of fire bombings he admitted were religiously motivated.
“Yes, I f***ing firebombed them. They’re Muslims, scum and terrorists,” Yogesh Sayrange reportedly told police, who said he threw Molotov cocktails at three buildings in Queens, including two houses of worship.
His targets included a Hispanic Baptist church and a Jehovah’s witness Kingdom Hall. None of the targeted buildings were damaged.
According to CAIR, Sayrange’s anti-Muslim statement was connected to an attack on a smoke shop in Brooklyn. The civil rights group added the attacker also said, “Do you want this institution turned into a mosque?” before throwing a Molotov cocktail at Iglesia Bautista El Mesías in Queens.
Afaf Nasher
“We welcome the arrest of the suspect in these disturbing attacks and commend federal and local law enforcement authorities for their actions in this case,” said Afaf Nasher, executive director of CAIR-New York. “The alleged statements attributed to the suspect leave little doubt that anti-Muslim hatred was a motivating factor in these crimes.”
Spectrum News reported the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is participating in the investigation led by the New York Police Department.
Iglesia Bautista El Mesías issued a statement thanking police and firefighters for their response to the attack: “Our church remains committed to serving our community, keeping our congregation safe and continuing to share the message of Jesus Christ with faith, peace and love.”
CAIR also praised authorities in Pennsylvania for the indictment of a self-described Nazi who threatened mass shootings against African Americans, Democrats, Jewish people, Muslims and other marginalized groups.
Robert Hlovchiec is accused of using online platforms to express white supremacist ideology and to vow future instances of mass violence.
“Violent extremist rhetoric targeting Muslims and members of other communities must never be dismissed as mere online speech when it includes credible threats of mass violence,” CAIR-Pittsburgh Executive Director Christine Mohamed said.
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