CPS Expresses Solidarity with Jewish Community After Attack on Poway Synagogue

(Overland Park, KS, 4/28/2019) -- The Crescent Peace Society (CPS), a Kansas City area interfaith organization, today expressed solidarity with the Jewish community in the aftermath of the shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue. The attack left one dead and three injured. The suspected shooter, John Earnest, is a White male who espoused white nationalist views in an online manifesto.

People hug next to police tape across the street from the Chabad of Poway Synagogue.
“Kansas City area Muslims express solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters in Poway, and around the world,” said CPS President Ahsan Latif. “This chilling attack on worshipers at a house of God is cowardly and horrific. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the victims, their families, and the larger Jewish community in this time of shock and grief.”
The alleged shooter expressed virulently anti-Semitic views in a manifesto published to the online forum 8chan the morning of the shooting. In it, he took credit for an unsolved arson at a mosque in Escondido, just nine miles away from Poway. Earnest praised by name the shooters in the Christchurch and Tree of Life Synagogue shootings. The shooter appears to have attempted to live stream the shooting, echoing the attacks in Christchurch. Thankfully the live stream failed.
“This attack further demonstrates that the fates of the Jewish and Muslim communities in this country are intertwined. An attack on one is also an attack on the other,” said Latif. “It is only through solidarity between our communities – uniting against anti-Semitic violence and anti-Islamic bigotry – that we can preserve our place in American society.”
The Crescent Peace Society is a Kansas City area interfaith organization seeking to enhance the understanding of Muslim cultures through educational and cultural activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences among people of diverse cultures. Its mission is to build bridges among faith communities, encourage dialogue, and promote justice and mutual understanding.
If there are groups interested in having a Muslim speaker meet with their congregation or organization regarding Muslims in America or Islam, they should email us at crescentpeacesociety@gmail.com.