Muslim Advocates: Don’t Blame Islam for the ‘Acts of Criminals’ in San Bernardino

This article first appeared in Reuters:

Muslim advocates in California say the mass shooting in San Bernardino that left 14 people dead and 17 wounded should not be blamed on the religion of Islam.

The two suspects have been identified as Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, who San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said were in a relationship, possibly married or engaged. He said they were believed to be the only shooters involved in an attack that required some degree of planning.

Both were slain hours after the shooting in a shootout with police, authorities said.

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR in the Los Angeles area, appealed to the public not to jump to conclusions about the motives of the suspects. He also urged the public to refrain from blaming the religion of Islam for the suspected shooter’s actions.

“Unfortunately we know we live at a time when there is a lot of tension and there’s a lot of blaming of Islam and Muslims for the acts of criminals out there,” said Ayloush

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