Extremism Moves Offline and New Emerging Threats
Overall Assessment
We assess that the threat of physical attacks against Muslims is ELEVATED. This assessment is informed by recent incidents involving vandalism, online threats, physical assaults, and the recent shooting in San Diego. Over the past few months, we have witnessed a significant increase in anti-Muslim threats and violence, with an elevenfold increase from January to March of 2026. These trends indicate a continued risk to Islamic institutions, warranting awareness, precautionary measures, and timely reporting of suspicious activity.
Note: These incidents only represent threats/attacks that have been reported. The majority of hate crimes against Muslims are never reported, therefore the true number of hate crimes is likely much higher. We encourage everyone to report every incident, regardless of its size or severity.
Individuals Targeted
May 18, 2026: An individual threatened four Muslim men with a knife in Brooklyn, New York.
Institutions Targeted
April 30, 2026: The word "Islam" was painted beneath the word "STOP" on several traffic signs near the Islamic Center of Deer Park in Long Island, New York.
May 3, 2026: A bomb threat was made to the Islamic Association of Raleigh in North Carolina.
May 11, 2026: Terrorist threats made at the Ismaili Center in Houston, Texas.
May 17, 2026: Man pelted with an egg at Baitul Mamur Mosque and Community Center in Brooklyn, New York.
May 18, 2026: Fatal shooting took place at the Islamic Center of San Diego, California.
4/30/26: STOP signs were vandalized near the Islamic Center of Deer Park in New York
5/11/26: Man was Arrested for Threatening Ismaili Center in Houston
Extremism Moves Offline: Islamic Center of San Diego Shooting
On May 18th, 2026, two teenagers killed three men–Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha, and Nader Awad–in an attack on the largest mosque in San Diego, California, which also houses an Islamic K-3rd grade school. The teenagers–who killed themselves after storming the mosque–streamed their attack online and published a manifesto in which they called themselves the “Sons of Tarrant” in reference to Brenton Tarrant, the man who killed 51 Muslims in an attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019. Their manifesto espouses racist, white supremacist, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic views.
New Emerging Threat: Potential Mosque Arsons
While many in the community are reacting to the San Diego shooting, MPAC-CSTP is observing a concerning increase in online rhetoric encouraging acts of arson against mosques, both internationally and within the United States.
On May 20, 2026, at a Frisco City Council meeting, far right activist Jake Lang, who took part in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, said, “If I lived in Texas, these mosques, they don’t need your approval. Burn ‘em to the f***ing ground.” He has also called to burn Qurans or threatened to do so at his “Crusader Marches” and has called for a “National Do Not Burn a Mosque Day” on July 4, 2026.
MPAC-CSTP is closely monitoring online calls to burn down mosques and will alert individual mosques and law enforcement as specific threats arise. We urge mosques to proactively inform us if they receive online or offline threats.
MPAC-CSTP Incident Tracker
MPAC-CSTP will continue to closely monitor developments and provide updates as needed. We encourage you to report any incident through the link below.
Why should you share incidents? For example, if an individual leaves a message to attack a mosque, we can use artificial intelligence tools to compare voice patterns with other security incident reports to identify whether the same individual is involved and possibly assist with identification efforts.