Anti-Muslim Hate in Orange County

(You can find a list of some of the hate speech from this video here.)

This heartbreaking video was shot last month at a fundraiser for a Muslim relief group working to relieve homelessness and hunger and to support women’s shelters in the US — which some angry, ignorant people decided was exactly the right moment to express their Islamophobia. According to CAIR California, who put together the video, the protests sponsors included:

“We Surround Them OC 912” (a local Tea Party group), Rabbi David Eliezrie of Chabad – Yorba Linda, North Orange County Conservative Coalition, ACT! for America, and Pamela Geller (whose group “Stop the Islamization of America” has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center).

The protest is made more disturbing (if that’s even possible) by the participation of multiple elected officials. Villa Park Councilperson Deborah Pauly said she knows, “quite a few Marines who would be very happy to help these terrorists to an early meeting in paradise.” I know quite a few people who would call that a death threat. Congressman Ed Royce and Congressman Gary Miller both spoke, with Miller expressing how proud he was of the people shouting hate at charity supporters, who included families with small children. Yes, this act of hate speech was supported by members of the House of Representatives. And as Glenn Greenwald points out, this is part of an ongoing wave of anti-Muslim hate actively whipped up by politicians and members of the media.

You can contact Garry Miller here, Ed Royce here, and Deborah Pauly here.