NSW premier speaks with Muslim community after mosque receives second threatening letter
NSW Premier Chris Minns has offered his support to the Muslim community after a second threatening letter was sent to a mosque in Sydney's south-west.
Lakemba Mosque received a drawing of the building depicted on fire with people inside alongside the words "burn them out", "human waste preach here", "filth" and "scum" yesterday afternoon.
Police are investigating the matter and have taken the letter for forensic examination.
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Lakemba Mosque received its second threatening letter yesterday afternoon. Nine
Minns has spoken with the community and said the government will always call out Islamophobia.
"Tonight, I have spoken with the Lebanese Muslim Association to express my support following threats to Lakemba Mosque," he said in a statement last night.
"People should be able to attend and pray without fear or intimidation.
"The NSW government will continue to call out Islamophobia wherever it occurs, just as we will continue to call out racism and all forms of religious hatred."
It was the second threatening letter the Lakemba Mosque had received in a fortnight.
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A threatening letter was sent to Lakemba Mosque in Sydney's south-west. Nine
A 70-year-old man accused of sending the first letter is before the courts charged with three counts of sending documents, threatening death or grievous bodily harm.
Counter-terror and federal police allegedly found more than 100 letters, stamps, notepads, and several electronic devices during a search of his home on January 24.
The Lebanese Muslim Association, which is the curator of the Lakemba Mosque, said it often receives hate mail, but the nature of the two recent ones was alarming.
"This letter writer went to a lot of trouble to make [their] threats using words and images, and this kind of intimidation has become the new norm," spokesperson Hajj Gamel Kheir told the ABC.
"We are now witnessing a greater increase in Islamophobia than ever, which naturally is quite alarming."
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A threatening letter sent to the Lakemba Mosque incited violence towards groups. Nine
"Racism will never win. Islam and the Muslim community will never cower to the threats and demands of the racist element in Australia."
The Muslim community is just days out from celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, when millions will fast, pray and spiritually reflect.
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