MILWAUKEE – On Monday, a knife-wielding man attacked a woman leaving the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, attempting to tear off her hijab. Voces de la Frontera issued the following statement from Executive Director Christine Neumann-Ortiz:

“We want to express solidarity and love with the woman who was attacked and with Muslim community members. We urge District Attorney John Chisolm and law enforcement to investigate this as a hate crime and bring the attacker swiftly to justice. This attack is part of a pattern. We saw the Sikh temple murders in Oak Creek, and last year’s triple homicide in Milwaukee of Hmong parents and a Puerto Rican father, all killed in front of their children. Since Trump’s election, Latinx community members have suffered harassment in schools, apartments, and public places like gas stations; local Jewish Community Centers have been targeted in a wave of bomb threats; an LGBTQ community organization was vandalized with anti-gay graffiti; and most recently a Hmong woman was shot at while sitting on her porch by a man in the Portage area who ranted about Hmong people “taking over” the village. This is a pattern of hate, and we urge our local officials to track hate crimes in the Milwaukee area.

“We will resist this rising tide of hatred. We urge community members to join us in the May 1st Day without Latinxs, Immigrants, and Refugees and statewide march starting at 12pm from 1027 S. 5th St. in Milwaukee. These attacks target all of our community, but on May 1st we will stand together, united against hate. We also invite everyone to join us on the Pilgrimage for Justice, which will set out walking from Madison on April 26th and arrive in Milwaukee on May 1st and join community members in the march from Voces de la Frontera.”

#CallOutHate

#FightHateWithAction

#UnitedAgainstHate

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