Missouri Muslims Fear For Their Safety After Politician Sells Fake ‘ISIS Hunting Permits’

Missouri Muslims Fear For Their Safety After Politician Sells Fake ‘ISIS Hunting Permits’

BY JACK JENKINS at Think Progress

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/07/05/3795460/missouri-isis-hunting-permit/

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A Missouri candidate for governor is raising money for his campaign by selling fake “ISIS hunting permits,” frustrating local Muslims who say the stickers perpetuate anti-Islam sentiment.

According to the Associated Press, Missouri Republican gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens sent out a fundraising email last Wednesday offering up bumper stickers emblazoned with the words “ISIS HUNTING PERMIT 2016” and featuring an expiration date that ends when “we defeat this evil.” Greitens is reportedly selling the stickers for $10 each, although buyers who donate $100 can receive a tag signed by former Navy SEAL Rob O'Neill, who has claimed he killed international terrorist Osama bin Laden.

The stickers have proven wildly successful, and the campaign has stated that they are already sold out. But the local Islamic community is expressing fears that while the inflammatory rhetoric is directed at ISIS, it could embolden assaults on ordinary Muslims, especially in the wake of rising anti-Muslim sentiment that includes scores of attacks on Muslim Americans and their houses of worship.

“When [people] get a bumper sticker saying ‘Here’s your permit to attack ISIS,’ and they see a young Muslim lady at Wal-Mart, and they’re like, ‘This is ISIS, I’m going to attack them,’ that’s when the real trouble begins,” Faizen Syed, spokesperson for the Missouri chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told FOX 2 news.



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