Council on American-Islamic Relations banquet moved following bomb threats

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it was forced to move its annual banquet, scheduled for Oct. 21, after the venue received anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bomb threats.

The hotel in Arlington, Va., which had hosted CAIR’s event every year for over 10 years, cancelled this year after anonymous callers threatened to “plant bombs in the hotel’s parking garage, kill specific hotel staff in their homes and storm the hotel in a repeat of the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol if the events moved forward,” CAIR said, according to ABC News.

CAIR, a civil rights and advocacy group, said it would still hold its event in a different location. “We will not allow the threats of anti-Palestinian racists and anti-Muslim bigots who seek to dehumanize the Palestinian people and silence American Muslims to stop us from pursuing justice for all,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad in a statement.

U.S. officials report an increase in threats against Muslim, Arab and Jewish communities and institutions amid the Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has warned against lone offenders specifically and urged the public to be vigilant.

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