To be clear: the Islamic State, which claimed the attacks in Paris, is responsible for more Muslim deaths than western deaths. It has killed tens of thousands of Muslims for being “infidels” in the past couple of years. Nevertheless, anti-Muslim hysteria will likely soar to new levels in the aftermath of the attacks in Paris.
Police in Oklahoma shot a man after he called 911 and promised to shoot anyone who looked like a Muslim because of what happened in France. An Ethiopian Uber driver in North Carolina was punched in the head by a passenger, who thought the driver was Muslim. The passenger threatened to kill the driver and refused to believe he was not Muslim.
A Muslim family in Orlando, Florida, found a bullet in their garage door and believed it was retaliation for the attacks in Paris. Shots were fired at a mosque in Connecticut on November 15.
In Ontario in Canada, a mosque was set on fire in what authorities treated as an act of arson. In Toronto, a Muslim woman was robbed and attacked while picking her children up from school. Attackers called the woman a “terrorist” and told her to “go back” to her own country. And, in Calgary, someone broke into a mosque while worshipers were in the middle of a candlelight vigil for Paris and stole donation boxes and a computer.
In Glasgow and West Scotland, the Bishopbriggs Cultural Center, which is used as a mosque by the Muslim community, was set on fire.
On November 17, security removed three men and a woman of “Middle Eastern descent” on a Spirit Airlines flight after a passenger reported “suspicious activity.” One of the people removed had been watching a news report on their phone, which the passenger thought was a video from the Islamic State. The people removed were questioned and then allowed to return to the flight, which was headed to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.
Two men were removed from a flight to Boston on November 16 after crew expressed concerns. One of the men was in an exit seat and “couldn’t speak English.” A K-9 unit was brought on board to sniff the airplane.
The Islamic Society of St. Petersburg and the Islamic Society of Pinellas County received phone calls from a man who made terroristic threats. The man, who said his name was Martin Schnitzler, claimed to have a “militia” that would come down and “firebomb” and shoo whoever was there in the head. “I don’t care if they’re (expletive) 2 years old or 100,” he added.”