A Congressional Republican told The Daily Signal that he is concerned about the “silence” from Muslim leaders in condemning the wave of recent terror attacks carried out by alleged Islamic terrorist who “cited a religious justification for their violence.”
“If a Christian justified violence by citing the Bible, every church in America would and SHOULD denounce it,” Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., told The Daily Signal.
The representative’s remarks come after a shooter wearing a hoodie that read “Property of Allah” opened fire at a bar in Austin, Texas, in early March, which killed three and injured 14 others.
That same week, two ISIS-inspired attackers threw improvised explosive devices at a crowd of protesters in New York City, and a shooter attempted to carry out an attack against a Jewish synagogue and K-12 school in Michigan.
On March 13, a shooter who was previously affiliated with ISIS opened fire at Virginia’s Old Dominion University, killing one before being subdued.
“Four Muslim terrorists have killed and injured Americans in four different cities in just three weeks,” Ogles stated. “Yet to this day, not a single American mosque has publicly condemned this pattern of Islamic bloodshed or disavowed the attackers.”
Ogles added that “Muslim leaders in America” could use “these horrific tragedies to prove that Islam is the ‘religion of peace” by publicly condemning them. Instead, however, they have refused to acknowledge them, the representative claimed.
As a result, the silence prompted Ogles to send a letter to over 3,000 Islamic leaders in the United States demanding that they “publicly and unequivocally condemn” the recent wave of terror attacks in the United States.
In his letter, Ogles added that if the leaders were to break the silence, they could “isolate extremists, protect Americans, and preserve peace.”
“Issue statements from your pulpits, post them online, and share them widely,” the representative’s letter added.
However, Ogles concluded that “if no peace is desired,” he will “not cease to further legislate and advocate that Islamic have no place in American culture, life, and civil government.”
Earlier this month, Ogles pledged to propose legislation to overhaul a 1965 law that prevents the selection of legal immigrants from certain countries, which would end the legal immigration and chain migration that he believes is responsible for the recent terror attacks.
