Muslim-American groups blame mainstreaming of hate speech for mosque shooting
Muslim-American groups have blamed what they describe as the mainstreaming of anti-Muslim hate speech for a shooting that killed three people outside a California mosque on Monday, pointing the finger at lawmakers and other right-wing influential figures.
"We are deeply disturbed, but not at all surprised," the Council on American Islamic Relations (Cair) said in a statement. "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. 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," the organisation said, referencing the Republican 'Sharia-Free Caucus' on Capitol Hill, which boasts of more than 60 lawmakers in its ranks.
Florida Congressman Randy Fine has become particularly notorious for his anti-Muslim rhetoric.
Cair indicated that Monday's attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego, California, is as "predictable as it is unacceptable".
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The Muslim Public Affairs Council also said the shooting "did not occur in a vacuum" and that the group documented an 11-fold increase in threats and attacks since January 2026.
"For years, anti-Muslim online figures, including Laura Loomer and Amy Mek, along with platforms such as StopAntisemitism, have amplified conspiracy theories portraying Muslims as national threats," the group said.
Following news of the attack on Monday, Loomer called for the deportation of all Muslims in the US to ensure they "are safe".
Mek testified in Congress last week that she has employed security guards to keep her safe from Muslim groups. "Islam is a hostile, totalitarian political ideology using our freedom to destroy us," she said.
And the group StopAntisemitism has in the past accused the wife of the imam at the San Diego mosque of being "anti-Israel".
'Heroic'
The Democrat-aligned pro-Israel advocacy organisation J Street shared a post on X condemning the attack.
"Our hearts break for the loved ones of the victims and at the images of children being led to safety. We must confront Islamophobia clearly, urgently and without hesitation," the group said.
American Muslims for Palestine (Amp) warned in a statement that "no community should ever have to fear for its safety while praying, teaching, or learning," and that an attack on a mosque is an attack on "all of us who believe in a just, inclusive, and peaceful society".
The group lauded San Diego Islamic Center's imam, Taha Hassane, for being an "indispensable partner in our work - a true beacon of compassion, civic engagement, and community service for the just cause of Palestine".
Hassane was in his apartment above the mosque when the attack took place, and told The Washington Post he heard the shots ring out.
Security guard Amin Abdullah, believed to be the first victim, picked up his radio after he was shot to warn those inside the centre to lock the doors. The Islamic school housed within the centre had some 200 children in attendance at the time.
Abdullah died soon after.
San Diego Police chief Scott Wahl told reporters on Monday that Abdullah's "actions were heroic, and, undoubtedly, he saved lives".
A shopkeeper and a neighbour of the mosque were the two other casualties. An official victim support fund has now been set up for them.
The teenage gunmen both died of self-inflicted bullet wounds, police said.
How lawmakers reacted
Middle East Eye reached out to the White House on Tuesday to ask for comment on the shooting, given that a US president would traditionally weigh in on such an attack, particularly as it was on a religious site, and is now being investigated as a hate crime.
Elected leaders from other countries, including the British prime minister, have voiced their condemnation.
The White House referred MEE to Vice President JD Vance, who told reporters at Tuesday's briefing that he "heard" about the shooting "this morning" and thought of his in-laws who live in San Diego, as well as a restaurant near the mosque that he frequents with the Second Lady.
"I don't know a single person who would say anything other than what I'm about to say, which is that that type of violence in the United States of America is reprehensible, and I urge every single American to pray for everybody who is involved and affected by it," Vance said.
"We don't want that to happen in our country, and may God rest the souls of the people who lost their lives."
San Diego's mayor, Todd Gloria, a staunch supporter of Israel who has denounced pro-Palestine protesters and aligned himself with anti-Muslim Zionist groups, was heckled during his press conference on Monday and blamed for the shooting.
"You emboldened Zionist propaganda, and you'll keep doing it as long as it lines your fucking pockets," someone shouted as Gloria listened in silence.
"Our Muslim brothers and sisters have been talking to you for how long?"
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, the first Muslim to assume that office, announced on Monday that he is increasing deployments to mosques "out of an abundance of caution".
Several Democratic members of Congress in Washington condemned the shooting in posts on X, but did not define a path forward to prevent such attacks from happening again.
When pressed by pundit Mehdi Hassan on X, Republican Senator Ted Cruz wrote: "Of course the attack on the mosque was horrific & evil. I unequivocally condemn it, and all other criminal violence."
Republican anti-Muslim campaign
A 36-page report released by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) last month, entitled "Manufacturing the Muslim Threat", revealed that "Republican elected officials built a coordinated anti-Muslim campaign involving 1,111 social media posts, eight bills, and a 62-member congressional caucus" in 2025, meeting the criteria of "speech likely to inspire violence".
Social media posts by 46 Republican elected officials, including members of Congress, governors, and a state attorney general, were analysed for the study.
CSOH said Texas and Florida-based officials produced 71 percent of all anti-Muslim posts, with Fine and Texas Governor Greg Abbott leading the charge.
Nearly half of all posts studied dabbled in the "Sharia conspiracy", the report said, using the language of "invasion", "conquest", and "Islamification".
That rhetoric helps to promote "the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, recasting Muslims as a population threat engaged in deliberate civilizational conquest", CSOH said.
It's also expected to increase, particularly in conservative and Republican-led regions, as November's midterm elections approach.
"The anti-Muslim bigotry of these elected officials is helping build a narrative that positions Muslim Americans, their communities, their religious practices, and their elected representatives as an enemy within that must be expelled from the American social fabric," CSOH said.
"[This] is often the precursor to ethnic violence campaigns against rhetorically targeted groups."
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