In the wake of the Brussels terrorist attacks that left at least 31 dead and hundreds injured , the Muslim community in Louisville held a press conference to express their sadness and shock.
The press conference was held on Tuesday evening on the Federal Courthouse premises.
Representatives and members of all the major local Islamic centers were in attendance, along with Mayor Greg Fischer.
“This is becoming all too common,” Fischer said. Other speakers included a member from the Jewish community, the vice-principal of Islamic School of Louisville, the imam of the River Road mosque and Dr. Ammar Almasalkhi, whose daughter had been at the same station one week before the attack during her abroad trip for study.
“She was actually in the train station that had the bombing today. It made me feel like it could happen to any of us,” Dr. Almasalkhi said.
“It just worries me,” Mirac Ozkir, of the Turkish community in Louisville, said. “Last week there was a monster in Istanbul. Today, there is a monster in Belgium.”
However, Ozkir also said moments like this remind him about the kind of city Louisville really is. He recalled the River Road mosque vandalism last year and how the community came out to help.
“In less than two days, more than 2,000 people showed up,” he said. “It wasn’t just Muslims.
Christians were there, Jewish members were there. That’s more evidence to show what a compassionate city this is.”
Ozkir said the terrorists in Brussels were not a true representation of Islam.
“Criminals can never represent Muslims,” he said. “Terror does not have a religion. We make up the human voice and we need to make it stronger.”
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