Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said Monday that Muslims in her hometown of Dearborn, Michigan, the location of the largest mosque in the United States, are afraid after the massacre of worshippers in New Zealand last week.
"This community has been targeted for a long time," Rep. Dingell told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "I think it's time to stand up. I think some of the younger people are tired of feeling targeted."
Dingell pointed out a similar mass shooting occurred in the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue last October.
"The rabbis were with us Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday and people want to stand up to this hate," Dingell said. "They want people to know who they are. They want to be able to go to a mosque or temple or Catholic church and not be afraid."
She also called for all members of the federal government to take a stand against such "hatefulness" and complained that social media has "become a tool of absolutely vitriolic rhetoric."
Meanwhile, Dingell said she is concerned people have lost their ability to communicate under President Donald Trump.
"There are people who are scared and worried about their jobs," Dingell said. "You have union workers who don't think that anybody cares about them, and they still think he cares about them . . . I think there's almost schizophrenia.
"People just want somebody to care about them. They want to have a safe and secure job that pays them enough to live in a decent neighborhood. That's what I'm hearing."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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