05/19/2026
🕌 ICNA COUNCIL FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE STATEMENT
Islamic Center of San Diego Shooting — May 18, 2026
ICNA Council for Social Justice is heartbroken and outraged by the fatal shooting today at the Islamic Center of San Diego — an attack that took the lives of at least three Muslim worshippers and endangered the lives of children who were seeking an education when school was in session. Among the deceased is security guard Amin Abdullah, whose heroic actions are credited with preventing further loss of life.
Details are still emerging. The San Diego Police Department and FBI are investigating the shooting as a hate crime. The suspects were found dead of self-inflicted gunshot wounds in their vehicle, where Islamophobic writings were also discovered.
💬 *“The Mosque is a safe place for all people. Mosques do not restrict entrance, because all people are allowed to seek refuge within their walls. Mosques are places of peace, for all people, across all religious denominations. To see the sanctity of a place of worship violated is painful for all Muslims, and a stark reminder of the danger that our community is facing as Islamophobic sentiment grows more every single year. We demand accountability - not just from the perpetrators, but from every public figure whose rhetoric created the soil in which this violence was grown.”*
— Imam Khalid Griggs, Communications Director, ICNA Council for Social Justice
Islamophobia is growing exponentially in the United States. Just this year, a far-right protest was livestreamed at the East Plano Islamic Center in Texas and a mosque in Palm Beach County, Florida was set on fire. Reports of anti-Islamic incidents are growing, fueled by the brazen rhetoric of American politicians and influential people. While politicians fearmonger about “Creeping Sharia,” this shooting presents the known and growing danger of that rhetoric made lethal.
📢 CSJ DEMANDS:
1️⃣ The DOJ must open a full federal hate crime investigation and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
2️⃣ Congress must pass comprehensive federal legislation protecting houses of worship — with specific protections for mosques and Islamic institutions.
3️⃣ Elected officials who have used anti-Muslim rhetoric must be publicly censured by their colleagues. Silence is complicity.
4️⃣ DHS must immediately expand the Nonprofit Security Grant Program so every mosque, Islamic school, and Muslim community center has access to real security resources.
5️⃣ President Trump must go beyond being “briefed” and issue an unambiguous, unqualified condemnation of anti-Muslim hatred — with no equivocation and no deflection.
ICNA Council for Social Justice stands in complete solidarity with the congregation of the Islamic Center of San Diego, with the family of Brother Amin Abdullah, and with every Muslim in America who today is asking whether they are safe in their own country.
You are not alone. We will continue this fight.
Islamic Center of San Diego - ICSD
