On Saturday afternoon, Maulama Akonjee, a 55-year-old old imam and Thara Uddin, 64, his assistant imam, were shot in the head and killed outside of the mosque that they serve in Queens, New York City.
Law enforcement has said the motivation for the killing is not clear at the moment -- it may well prove to be unrelated to the victim's faith.
But that's not the way the killing is being received by Muslims from Queens, throughout New York City and pretty much everywhere else in the country. Many readily believe that these two men were targeted because of their faith and that this was a hate crime.
Are we wrong? Possibly. But in the current political climate being, why would we not feel targeted? Most people that I have spoken to in NYC have two fears: 1) that it could have been any one of us and 2) things are seemingly going to get a lot worse.
Islamophobia did not start with Donald Trump, but it definitely has escalated thanks to him and other Republican candidates who have sown distrust and loathing during this election season. From the perspective of many Muslims, the unchecked rhetoric coming from too many politicians in our country and much of Europe has made it seem fully justifiable to commit acts of violence against Muslims without any consequence.
Women, children and the elderly, in addition to people who are Hindu, Sikh and from numerous other backgrounds, have all been victims of attacks due to their actual and perceived associations with Islam and the racialization of the faith. With an election upon us, every day there is an increased likelihood of violence against Muslims.
I'm not indulging in hyperbole here.
Georgetown University recently issued a report showing a direct increase in Islamophobia in the United States tied to the presidential election.
Its findings show that the number of attacks on Muslims is up from 2014: in 2015 alone there were "approximately 174 reported incidents of anti-Muslim violence and vandalism, including 12 murders; 29 physical assaults; 50 threats against persons or institutions; 54 acts of vandalism or destruction of property; 8 arsons; and 9 shootings or bombings, among other incidents."