"Everything on the inside was charred. The roof had come down, and they had to demolish the building afterwards. The mosque, which had a few dozen members, had been the first in Columbia and was, for a time, the only Muslim house of worship between Nashville and Huntsville, Alabama."
"Muslims don't belong in American society. Pluralism is a lie. Representative Ogles, a Republican in his second term, doesn't seem to want Muslims to reside in his district. And he doesn't want them anywhere else in the country, for that matter."
The Islamic Center of Columbia, Tennessee was destroyed by white supremacists in 2008 when three young men firebombed the mosque after spray-painting swastikas and hate messages on its exterior. The small Muslim community rebuilt by converting a nearby church, initially keeping their plans secret to avoid backlash. Nearly two decades later, the rebuilt mosque remains active but the community faces renewed tension. Representative Andy Ogles, a Republican congressman whose district office is less than a mile from the mosque, has publicly stated that Muslims don't belong in American society and has advocated against Muslim immigration and citizenship.
Read at The Atlantic
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