San Jose police investigating hate letter reported by Islamic center

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- San Jose police are investigating a possible hate crime involving a pro-Trump, anti-Muslim letter sent to a a mosque.

Officers were dispatched to the Evergreen Islamic Center on Ruby Avenue at 7:10 p.m. Thursday on report of suspicious circumstances surrounding the letter.

The letter addresses the people of Evergreen Islamic center as the "children of Satan", calling Muslims "vile and filthy people".

The letter arrived at the mosque on Wednesday and is now in the hands of the San Jose Police Department. "It was disturbing to the fact that some of our parishioners were a little bit worried," Evergreen Islamic Center Board President Faisal Yazadi said.

He says officers arrived right away to investigate. "We wanted to let law enforcement know so that in case there's an unfortunate event people are prepared," Yazadi said.

The letter says president-elect Trump is going to do to Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews, and that Muslims would be wise to pack their bags and get out of dodge.

Santa Clara County Board of Supervisor Dave Cortese was among a handful of local leaders who received a copy of the letter. "This is a direct, written threat by somebody and it's not protected speech. It's definitely hate speech and I think it rises to the level of a hate crime," he said.

The council on American-Islamic relations says there's been a spike in incidents targeting Muslim-Americans since the election, more than a hundred nationwide.

But Evergreen Islamic Center is heartened by the overwhelming community support. The mosque says the phone has been ringing off the hook. "Thank God we live in a beautiful, blessed community like this so life goes on," Yazadi said.