North Texas leaders denounce hateful letter threatening to shoot immigrant IT workers
North Texas leaders denounce hateful letter threatening to shoot immigrant IT workers
Irving residents and others in North Texas responded with horror and anger concerning a letter threatening to shoot information technology workers of Asian and Indian descent, according to area community leaders.
There is an active investigation by Irving police concerning a letter received by a resident.
But several people have reached out to the DFW chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations saying they know of others who have received similar correspondence, said Faizan Syed, CAIR-DFW executive director.
“We’re trying to verify and follow up with those people to get them connected with law enforcement,” Syed said Tuesday. “Historically, our immigrant community has been a specific target for this.”
Irving police placed a post on social media Monday saying they were investigating a letter received by an Irving resident that threatens to “shoot mercilessly” immigrants of Chinese and Indian descent who work in the information technology fields.
The letter is headed with a message that says — “Return back to you country,” followed by a profane salutation.
“American citizens in IT industry and other professional fields have lost their jobs to many Indians and Chinese,” the letter says. “We asked you to leave the country without further delay. We will have no choice but to shoot mercilessly at work place, in community, on pool or on playground.”
During a press conference held on Facebook Live on Tuesday, Syed encouraged anyone who had received similar correspondence to get in touch with the Irving police or call his organization for assistance.
“This attempt to intimidate and threaten members of ethnic communities has an ugly history in our nation and we must stand united against it,” Syed said.
The Irving police investigator assigned to the case can be contacted at ccunningham@cityofirving.org, according to police. Irving police announced on social media Tuesday that they still have only one complaint and have no other evidence of this letter being sent to more than one person. No suspect has been identified, police said.
Syed said he did not know how many people the letter had reached, but he added that the fear that the letter caused within the immigrant community in Irving and North Texas is real.
“People are afraid of going to the park and going out in public,” Syed said. “Anyone who is part of this group feels impacted. We wanted to tell people to not be afraid but to contact us and law enforcement to make sure these cases are brought forward.”
Initial efforts to encourage federal and state investigators to join in the probe to determine who wrote and distributed the letter were postponed in an effort to work more closely with local law enforcement, Syed said.
“What hurts people is that they are American immigrants whose parents have sacrificed a lot and they have studied hard,” Syed said. “And some people think they do not deserve to have this or that job because of their race or ethnicity despite all the investments and their hard work. That continues to hurt a lot of people and undermines our economy.”
Zulikha Hussain, Muslim outreach director for the Dallas County Democratic Party, said those responsible for causing panic among immigrant residents must be located.
“It’s really important that we take these forms of harassment and these death threats seriously,” Hussain said. “Americans who are directing their fears toward immigrants and believing that immigrants are the reason they are losing their IT or technology jobs are just hate mongers and racists. They must be reminded that immigrants contribute to American economic growth.”
This story includes information from Star-Telegram archives.
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