WASHINGTON –
Concerned with increased anti-Muslim threats and backlash in the wake of terror
attacks in Europe and San Bernardino, California, numerous attorneys from the
US Justice Department are launching a campaign to combat discrimination.

US attorneys
from 11 states will meet with local officials, community leaders, and law
enforcement between April 12 and May 6 in order discuss the potential threats
against Muslim, Arab, Sikh, and South Asian Americans. The goal is “to address discrimination, violence and
harassment targeting people because of what they look like, which country they
come from or where they worship,” the Justice Department said.

The states
involved are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Louisiana,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio and Utah.

“The Department of Justice is determined to uphold the fundamental
principle that all Americans should be free from violence and protected from
hatred no matter who they are, what they look like, or where they’re from,” said Federal Attorney General Loretta E.
Lynch in a statement.

Over the past
few months, the Justice Department said, a man in Connecticut pleaded guilty to
shooting a rifle at a mosque, a Florida mean pleaded guilty to threatening to
firebomb to mosques and also shoot those worshipping inside, and a New York man
was sentenced to over a year in jail for sending death threats to the leader of
an Islamic advocacy group.

“These events underscore our ongoing commitment to safeguard the civil
rights of every American – including Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian
Americans, who are so often the targets of threats on the basis of their
appearance or religion,”
Lynch added.

Since the
September 11, 2001, terror attacks, the Justice Department said it has
investigated more than 1,000 cases featuring violence, threats, assaults,
arsons and vandalisms targeting Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian people.
Prosecutions have been brought against 60 people in these cases, with 57
leading to convictions.

According to
the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), there was a record 63 cases
of vandalism and harassment against mosques and Muslims in 2015 alone, it said
in December.

Following the
November attacks in Paris, CAIR said 17 anti-mosque incidents occurred in that
month alone. The previous high was 53 incidents in 2010, CAIR stated.

“There is no place for intolerance in our country,” Lynch said in her statement. “In the weeks and months ahead, the
Department of Justice will continue to work with local law enforcement partners
and community leaders to defend the safety and the dignity of all our people.”

Concern over
anti-Muslim sentiment has also played out outside of the courtroom. During last
year’s anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a Florida gun shop offered shoppers a
coupon code featuring the word “Muslim,” with the storeowner arguing that “Islam is evil at its core.” The move
was denounced by Muslim groups.