A Muslim civil liberties group demanded an apology Tuesday from Republican U.S. Senate candidate Wendy Long over a series of tweets she sent about a former Catholic church in Syracuse that was converted into a mosque.
Afaf Nasher, executive director of the New York chapter of theCouncil on American-Islamic Relations, said Long’s tweets were intended to raise fear about the Muslim community that has settled on Syracuse’s North Side.
“Once again we see a Republican candidate stoking anti-Muslim bigotry based on stereotypes and falsehoods,” Nasher said in a statement. “We demand that Ms. Long apologize for the harm she has done to the Syracuse Muslim community.”
Long had no immediate response Tuesday.
CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties group, encouraged Muslims to report any bias incidents to police and to CAIR’s civil rights department at 202-742-6420.
During a visit to Syracuse’s North Side last week, Long tweeted a photograph of a boarded up home near the former Holy Trinity Church on Park Street, converted last year into the Masjid Isa Ibn Maryam mosque.
“Neighborhood where the mosque displaced the church,” Long wrote in her tweet with the photo. “Crime, prostitution, money laundering. Nice Dem control of cities.”
Long told Syracuse.com in an interview Monday that she wanted to draw attention to what she heard from North Side residents about changes to their neighborhood since the church conversion began in 2014.
Long said “the fact we have refugees who are coming in without work, many of whom are on perpetual public assistance” has led to a cycle of poverty that likely fuels crime.
Long, 56, of New York City, is challenging U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., in the November election.