ATLANTA — The Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling on area mosques to step up security after they say four of them received threats.
CAIR said Greenview Madani Center, a mosque in Lawrenceville, received a letter on Feb. 24 with a handwritten note saying, "Death is waiting for you and your kind." Also on the note was a drawing of someone being decapitated.
Channel 2's Tony Thomas is talking with the mosques about steps they are taking to increase security on Channel 2 Action News starting at 4 p.m.
Masjid Omar bin Abdul Aziz in Norcross, Georgia, Al-Farooq Masjid and another Atlanta-area mosque received threatening emails on Feb. 18.
The emails had the subject line "YOUR ONE WARNING."
In the letter it said ". . .MUZLIMS MEXICANS BLACKS WE WILL HUNTED NATION WIDE UNTIL ARE ARE DEAD OR GONE. . .PLAN TO RUN OR DIE, THIS IS A KINDNESS THAT WE GIVE YOU ALL WARNING, TAKE IT AND GO."
"We hope that state and federal law enforcement authorities will identify and arrest the criminals threatening violence against Georgia mosques," said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, executive director of CAIR-Georgia. "While the perpetrators are being sought, mosque leaders should do all they can to protect their houses of worship by working with local law enforcement authorities, installing security cameras and employing security officers during the daily prayers."
Two weeks ago, identical emails were sent to two Alabama mosques, the Birmingham Islamic Society and Huntsville Islamic Center, Mitchell said.
Both organizations reported the threats to local law enforcement, the Department of Justice office and the FBI.
The threats are among a string of threats being made to mosques and Jewish centers across the country.
The Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta in Dunwoody received a threat in January.
Some of those threats around the country led to evacuations, but all turned out to be hoaxes.
The FBI has previously issued a statement on the threats saying: “The FBI and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are investigating possible civil rights violations in connection with threats to Jewish community centers across the country. The FBI will collect all available facts and evidence, and will ensure this matter is investigated in a fair, thorough, and impartial manner. As this is matter is ongoing, we are not able to comment further at this time.”
"Georgia Muslims cannot allow anti-Muslim bigots to scare us away from proudly and publicly practicing our faith, whether those bigots are writing anonymous letters in a dark basement or writing policy in the White House," Mitchell said. "But we should take steps to protect our rights, our houses of worship and our communities."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.