The Daily Sigh

Punish A Muslim, Love A Muslim

The following will be an mashup of different articles because some have more information than others.

HATE

LONDON - The anonymous letters arrived this weekend in plain white envelopes with second-class stamps, and were sent to people in at least six communities in England.

Inside was a message so hateful that it sent out ripples of alarm and prompted a national counterterrorism investigation.

The message said that April 3 would be "Punish a Muslim Day," and that points would be awarded for acts of violence: 25 points for pulling off a woman's head scarf, 500 points for murdering a Muslim and 1,000 for bombing a mosque.

Riaz Ahmed, a Liberal Democrat councilor in Bradford, in West Yorkshire County, said he had received one of the letters at his business address.

"It seems strange that anyone would send something like this to an address in a predominantly Muslim area,'' Mr. Ahmed told The Mirror on Saturday. "When I opened it and saw the content, I was horrified."

People in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leicester, London and Sheffield have also reported receiving the notes, according to the authorities, a member of Parliament and Tell Mama, an organization that monitors anti-Muslim activity.

"This has caused quite a lot of fear within the community," Iman Atta, the director of Tell Mama, told the local news media. "They are asking if they are safe, if their children are safe to play outdoors. We have told them to keep calm."

The Metropolitan Police of London and other officials have warned Britons to be vigilant, and counterterrorism officials are investigating.

Naz Shah, a member of Parliament from Bradford West, said on Twitter and in a Facebook post that members of her community had received the letters and that the situation had become "very distressful, not only those who have received the letter but also for the wider communities."

Ms. Shah said the North East Counter Terrorism Unit, which is coordinating the investigation, had informed her that the letters appeared to be linked and that "a thorough and professional investigation is well underway."

"I would appeal to the wider community to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the police," she said.

The North East Counter Terrorism Unit said in a statement that it had received reports of "potentially malicious communications sent to individuals across the U.K.," and asked victims to contact their local police.

The significance of April 3, 2018, was not immediately clear. Some neo-Nazi groups use the number 18 to signify the letters of Hitler's first and last names in the alphabet.

Tell Mama said in a Twitter post that the hate letters sent out in Britain numbered in the "double figures" and that it was working with the police to investigate the "malicious campaign."

At least some letters - they also promote acid attacks and torture - appeared to have been mailed out of Sheffield, the group said.

Assistant Chief Constable Angela Williams of the West Yorkshire police said in a statement, "We want to reassure our communities that these communications are being taken extremely seriously."

She said, "I would urge our communities to be vigilant but not frightened,'' adding, "We are stronger when we stand together as one and will not be divided. #WeStandTogether."

Sajid Javid, a member of Parliament and secretary of state for housing, said on Twitter in response to the letters:

"Disturbing reports of Islamophobic letters in the #Midlands - let me be clear, British Muslims should be able to live without fear of abuse and attack and we will do everything in our power to tackle those who spread hate."