BBC United States of Hate Muslims Under Attack Page #2

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you don't know anything about her. Why would you want to abuse her?

She's making a statement by wearing that trash bag, saying,

"I'm better than you, I'm a Muslim." You know.

An Islamic supremacist, basically.

They think that we're apes and pigs

and that she is so much better than us that we can't see her hair.

That's ridiculous.

No, it is a ridiculous religion.

'It's difficult for me to understand why Robert feels

'the way he does, but anti-Muslim feeling is racing across America.

'55% of Americans have expressed some kind of negative views

'towards Islam.'

I'm taking a two-hour flight to Dallas, Texas.

Muslims have been living here for over 50 years.

There are now 150,000 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area,

one of the biggest populations in America.

But could this also be the most Islamophobic place in America?

Armed militia groups have been protesting outside the mosques.

The police arrested a 14-year-old Muslim schoolboy

because they thought his science project looked like a bomb.

GUNSHOTS:

And a man attacked a Muslim business,

killing one person and injuring others.

But today I'm here at the University of Texas,

where a memorial has been organised

to remember three American Muslim students

who were sought out and gunned down in their own apartment.

This event is called Balloons For Our Three Winners.

Each one of you has a balloon

and on the balloon you have a quote attached to it.

These quotes are from three victims

that were murdered for their religion.

The reason we're having this event is to honour their memory

and show that their legacy still lives on.

Three, two, one...

Go!

Hate crimes targeting Muslims has tripled in the last year.

Fear is affecting Muslims here.

Because...some people, you don't know how far they're going to go,

so some people are being hurt, some people are scared, erm...

I had security cameras installed around my house

because I felt afraid, and I didn't feel like that before.

One time I was driving and the car next to me,

he started imitating, like, some... like, a gun with his fingers,

as if he was shooting me,

and so I got really scared and I took a detour.

I was putting my groceries in the trunk

when an individual approached me from behind.

He was like, "Are you Muslim?" And I was like, "Yeah, I'm Muslim."

And he showed me his gun, and he was like,

"If I could use this right now, I would.

"And I would kill you here right now."

Only 20 minutes away from the university, I'm meeting

one of the most extreme anti-Muslim groups operating in America.

'After months of negotiation, I've finally got access to

'the Bureau of American Islamic Relations, or Bair for short.'

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