Earlier this week two teenage gunmen attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego. They killed three people before dying of self-inflicted gunshot wounds. It is clear that these young men were radicalized online and set out to sow seeds of division and hatred.
Our society is the most open society in the world. This is a place where people of good will from every religion, tradition, ethnicity, or race can come for an opportunity to flourish. Violence inspired by religious and racial animus only deepens the fractures that threaten the values that have made the West great.
What makes this attack even more egregious is that it happened where many Muslims in the community meet to practice their faith. No person should be afraid to order his or her life according to the dictates of conscience. America’s tradition of religious pluralism is constitutionally secured for the benefit of EVERY person.
Acts of violence like this are designed to strike at the core of what it means to be an open and free society, and AHA Foundation stands in solidarity with every American committed to defending our shared values. We extend our sincere condolences to the families and the community that lost loved ones to this reprehensible and senseless act of violence.