Letters to California mosques threaten genocide: ‘pack your bags’

Photo: Google Maps / Evergreen Islamic Center The Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose received a hate-filled...

San Jose police initiated an investigation after a mosque in the city received a letter threatening that President-elect Donald Trump will “do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews.”

Leaders of two mosques in Southern California, the Long Beach Islamic Center and the Islamic Center of Claremont, said Saturday they received the same letter. All of the messages were signed by “Americans for a Better Way.”

Authorities in San Jose were alerted to the letter Thursday night after the imam at the Evergreen Islamic Center on Ruby Avenue found it in the mail. The letter called the recipients “children of Satan” and “vile and filthy people.”

Investigators are treating it as a “hate-motivated incident,” said Sgt. Enrique Garcia, spokesman for the San Jose Police Department.

“There’s a new sheriff in town — President Donald Trump,” the letter said. “He’s going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, he’s going to start with you Muslims.”

“You Muslims would be wise to pack your bags,” the note continued.

Faisal Yazadi, president of the mosque’s board of directors, said he hoped the letter’s sender would engage in a conversation with their community.

“Our doors are never locked,” he said. “I hope that person knows that we’re more than happy to have a dialogue. Hopefully, we learn a thing or two from him or her, and he or she learns something from us.”

Despite never having previously dealt with such an incident at the mosque, Yazadi said the outpouring of support from Police Chief Eddie Garcia, city officials, neighbors, a Catholic bishop and the NAACP made him feel unfazed by the hateful letter.

“Without their support I don’t think I’d be talking to you so strongly now,” he said.

San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia on Wednesday, August 24, 2016. San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia on Wednesday, August 24, 2016. Photo: Peter Fimrite / The Chronicle / / Photo: Peter Fimrite / The Chronicle / / Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Letters to California mosques threaten genocide: ‘pack your bags’ 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

But Tarek Mohamed, chairman of the Long Beach mosque, said the situation warranted the involvement of the FBI. He said the letter sender “probably isn’t stable” but “we don’t want to leave anything to chances.”

“The local police is limited by the city,” Mohamed said. “If we have mosques being threatened across the state, it’s not a local thing. We need some higher authority to investigate.”

Police in Signal Hill, where the Long Beach mosque is located, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Officials at the Pomona Police Department said Saturday they hadn’t received a report about the letter sent to the Claremont mosque.

The anti-Muslim message comes amid a local and national rise in hate crimes. In San Francisco, police have seen a 10 percent increase in crimes motivated by racism, sexism and other prejudices. After the election, California attorney general and incoming U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris sent a bulletin to police agencies outlining laws surrounding hate crimes because of the statewide uptick.

Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Trump’s campaign promises and rhetoric made some of his supporters feel validated in their Islamophobic views. Billoo said she was grateful for the fast police response in San Jose over the holiday weekend and that the letter was “just words,” rather than violence.

“In some ways it’s a threat from the individual,” she said. “But in other ways it attempts to threaten the community through the power of the presidency.”

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov