Dear Friend,

Today marks two years since the horrific massacre of worshipers at two mosques in Christchurch. On this day, we remember and honor the families of the 51 who were murdered, the 40 who were injured, the New Zealand’s Muslim community and the countless people who have suffered worldwide from planned or executed copycat attacks.

Since March 15, 2019, violent white supremacy and anti-Muslim animus-all amplified by social media platforms--has mushroomed and attacks on houses of worship serving minority communities and faiths continues.

Just a few weeks ago, officials in Singapore stopped a copycat attack that was supposed to occur at a mosque today. In past years, other Christchurch copycats planned and executed attacks in California, Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom. 

The violence that overtook the United States Capitol on January 6 was no isolated incident. White nationalism has violently threatened Black churches, synagogues, Buddhist temples, gurdwaras and mosques with arson, vandalism, bombings and mass shootings for years.  White nationalist militias are organizing these attacks using tech platforms like Facebook, which hosted a live-stream of the Christchurch massacre. Law enforcement, intelligence agencies and tech platforms have failed, over and over again, to prioritize the global threat of white nationalist violence.

As we commemorate today, it’s vital that we work to stop this scourge in its tracks. We, along with our allies in other impacted faith communities, have reached out to the FBI to remind them of their obligation to protect us and are advocating to the tech platforms to eradicate this violence from their sites.

We are thankful for you and your strength and we commemorate today by recommitting to ending the scourge of violent white nationalism.

Thank you,

Madihha Ahussain
Special Counsel for Anti-Muslim Bigotry
Muslim Advocates