Over the break the Pullman Police Department announced, “There have been some posts on social media disparaging the Pullman Islamic Center in Pullman … The Pullman Police Department will work to ensure the safety of the mosque and its members and ask the public to forward to us any threats to harm people or to damage property.”

How can this be happening in our town?

If the Ku Klux Klan and members of the notorious Westboro Baptist Church do not represent all Christians, then why in all logical sense do the extremists and terrorist cells in Syria and the Middle East suddenly speak for all followers of Islam, a religion followed by 20-23 percent – yes, almost a quarter – of the global population.

If you believe that attacking members of local mosques, defacing property or threating people is somehow justified because of the attacks in Paris, you are sorely mistaken.

Per the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s definitions, any one or group(s) that:

“Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law; Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping, and occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.,” are acts of domestic terrorism.

Additionally, if you intimidate, make threats, damage property or implement any of those things in a violent manner for political purposes, then you are, by definition, a “terrorist” that can be tried in a federal court.

The people who decided to light Planned Parenthood on fire – terrorists. The people who make threats against the Pullman Islamic center or Muslims – terrorists.

For what could be more political than burning down a community health center that provides much-needed anonymous and low-cost health services to the poor? Who suffers?

The poor suffer. The women, the men, the children and the community suffer. What was the purpose? To shut it down because the ideologies of the health center do not align with religious beliefs.

As for the threats against the Islamic Center, I hope they catch the people responsible and try them for domestic terrorism.

Cougs, the entire platform used by the IS or ISIS or other terrorist cells is exactly the same: their sole purpose in life is to illicit extreme fear in others. They care not for the innocent lives they disrupt or end, they care not for their so called “religion.”

They are psychopaths who do not even care about their own bodies to the point where they are hell-bent on the destruction and demise of other human beings – no matter their religious affiliation, no matter the cost.

In some ways the threats to the Pullman Islamic Center fall right into the area of domestic terrorism because the very nature and purpose was to illicit fear in the hearts of the local Islamic community.

That kind of behavior is not okay with me. The experience of my family with the local Muslim community has been small-scale, but they have been some of the kindest people in town.

They shared a homemade cake with me and my son when they had extra and they gave me rides home from the bus stop when it was snowy and windy because they knew I didn’t have a car.

As a family they were so kind and warm in every interaction – it deeply pains me to think anyone would want to hurt them or their beautiful children.

Threats of violence or defacing property are exactly why many immigrants leave their home countries to come live in America – you know, the land of ‘free religion’ and being ‘free from religious persecution.’

So why all the hypocrisy, Pullman? Better yet, why the hypocrisy, America?

If you are Christian or other faith, would you stand for someone making threats against your church or your congregation? No, you wouldn’t.

This community is so small – we can only hope this event brings us closer together and unites us against people who feel the need to terrorize others.

Jorden Wilson is a senior psychology major from Seattle. She can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of the Office of Student Media.