BROOKLYN PARK – Miles away from the UK and Islamophobic calls for “Punish a Muslim Day”, April 3 was celebrated by American police officers in the US state of Minnesota as a day for peace.
“It broke my heart when I heard about this hatred campaign,” American police officer Terry Dehmer, a crime prevention specialist at Brooklyn Park Police Department in Minnesota told KARE11.
Islamophobic ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ letter, encouraging violence against Muslims, started to circulate on social media on March 9.
Police were called after some letters were posted through doors of properties across London, Cardiff, the Midlands, and Yorkshire.
The campaign sparked fear at Pioneers Academy, a Muslim elementary school in Brooklyn Park.
Hence, the school principal managed to reach out to the police force, asking them for cooperation on handling the situation.
Dehmer decided to play a role in protecting the American Muslim community and counter the hate campaign.
He thought it would be an effective gesture to stop by the school with a candy bar for each student and staff member.
The Muslim school expressed its gratitude and gratefulness in an official email message. “Pioneers Academy students and staff are so thankful and appreciative to the noble gesture. Thanks to Dehmer, that Punish a Muslim Day turned into Love a Muslim Day,” it read.
The 2008 survey of Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed that Muslims represent 1% of Minnesota’s total population.
In 2006, Minnesota became the first American state to select a Muslim representative to Congress.