How an Anti-Muslim Hate Crime in Deep-Red Missouri Produced an Unexpected Show of Love
Anatomy of a hate crime. On Saturday, April 19, Donald Trump retweeted far-right “journalist” Paul Sperry, whom the Anti-Defamation league has dubbed “an anti-Muslim blogger” for his years of spewing hate against Muslims. The Sperry tweet that caught Trump’s eye read: “Let’s see if authorities enforce the social-distancing orders for mosques during Ramadan (April 23-May 23) like they did churches during Easter.”
Later that day Trump continued to stoke the flames of bigotry at his daily press conference, defending his retweet by suggesting that Muslim-Americans would have more rights than Christians when it came to places of worship being allowed to remain open during the COVID-19 crisis, stating, “I would say there could be a difference… I’ve seen a great disparity in this country.” Trump’s words were met with swift condemnation by Muslim groups, because they knew instantly that this type of language can incite hate crimes.
Just five days later, in the early hours of April 24—the first day of Ramadan—a mosque in a small city in southwest Missouri was set ablaze, destroyed by a man with a history of anti-Muslim hate crimes.