The ad is paid for by Citizens to Elect Kurt Schaefer Attorney General.

“A major objective of the ad is to take advantage of anti-Muslim rhetoric and scare voters into fearing Muslim communities, including those of South Asian American and Asian-American heritage, which puts the lives of families and children in these communities in danger of possible hate crimes,” the Asian-American groups said.

The groups behind the joint release were the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis, OCA Asian Pacific American Advocates St. Louis Chapter, the Missouri Asian American Bar Association, South Asian Bar Association of Metro St. Louis and Asian American Bar Association of Kansas City.

Scott Dieckhaus, Schaefer’s campaign manager, said the anti-Hawley ads are “not in any way xenophobic or intended to cause fear of any group of people. Our ads point out ... Hawley has chosen to defend people who have done evil things.”

Hawley’s campaign spokesman, Scott Paradise, said, “These ads are run by a third-party group and we are not associated with them.”

Caroline Fan, president of the St. Louis Chapter of OCA, said the ads were attempts to score political points at the expense of groups that the candidates do not feel are important to the election.

“I’d like to hear about concrete, substantive, beneficial policies that both candidates want to implement, not this crass xenophobia,” she said.

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