Muslim communities in the UK have been urged to remain vigilant as counter-terrorism police investigate anonymous letters calling on recipients to attack Muslims.
This weekend people in Bradford, Leicester, London, Cardiff and Sheffield reported receiving the notes, printed on A4 paper.
The letters say 3 April will be “Punish a Muslim Day” and points will be awarded for certain acts of violence – from 25 points for removing a woman’s headscarf to 500 points for murdering a Muslim.
“Are you a sheep like the vast majority of the population?” the letter reads. “Sheep follow orders and are easily led. They are allowing the white-majority nations of Europe and north America to become overrun by those who would like nothing more than to do us harm and to turn our democracies into sharia-led police states.”
Counter Terrorism Policing North East said it had received reports of “potentially malicious communications sent to individuals across the UK”.
“[We] are coordinating the investigation at this time and will consider any potential links to existing inquiries. Anyone with any concerns about a communication they may have received should contact their local police force,” a spokesperson said.
'Punish a Muslim Day' - we continue to receive reports of letters received from across the country. Now into double figures. Please report them into us at Tell MAMA or to 101. We are working with police forces on this malicious campaign. pic.twitter.com/4bph2RVBcv
— TellMAMAUK (@TellMamaUK) March 10, 2018
Naz Shah, the MP for Bradford West, said some people in her constituency had received the letter. “Understandably this is very distressful, not only [for] those who have received the letter but also for the wider communities,” she said in a statement on Facebook. “I would appeal to the wider community to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the police.”
Iman Atta, the director of Tell Mama, which monitors anti-Muslim activity, said the letters had “caused quite a lot of fear within the community”.
“They are asking if they are safe, if their children are safe to play outdoors. We have told them to keep calm and to phone the police if they receive one of these letters,” she said.
The group said it was essential that all letters and envelopes were “kept and handled minimally” to preserve evidence for the police to investigate. “Incidents like this are rare, but we urge vigilance and calm as we remind Muslim communities that our confidential support service is available to assist in this matter,” it said in a statement.
A number of the letters appear to have been sent from the Sheffield area. The assistant chief constable of South Yorkshire police, Tim Forber, confirmed there had been three reports of letters received in the region. “These communications are extremely distressing and we appreciate that members of our communities will be very concerned,” he said.
“I can assure you that these documents are being taken extremely seriously and a thorough investigation into the circumstances is under way.
“Hate crime in any form will not be tolerated and we will work with our communities and alongside our colleagues in the counter-terrorism unit to ensure that those spreading fear and hatred will be brought to justice.”
Riaz Ahmed, a Liberal Democrat councillor in Bradford, told the Yorkshire Post he had received the letter at his business address. “It was not addressed to anyone, just the address and postcode as if it was sent out randomly,” he said.
“It has a second-class stamp on the plain white envelope and the frank mark is Sheffield. It was posted yesterday. It seems strange that anyone would send something like this to an address in a predominantly Muslim area. When I opened it and saw the content, I was horrified.”
