Tlaib condemns ‘white supremacy’ agenda after New Zealand attack

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), one of two Muslim women serving in Congress, slammed a “white supremacy” agenda in the U.S. after shootings at two New Zealand mosques on Friday left 49 people dead and dozens of others injured.

“From Charleston, to Pittsburgh, Texas, Oak Creek, New Zealand and many places in between, white supremacists are targeting places of worship to push their violent, racist and terrorist agenda,” Tlaib said in part in a statement, referencing other areas where shooters have targeted places of worship.

“This morning I tried to hold back tears as I hugged my two brown, Muslim boys a little tighter and longer. The painful loss of life based on hate makes me so angry. I am so angry at those who follow the ‘white supremacy’ agenda in my own country that sends a signal across the world that massacres like this is some kind of call to action.”

New Zealand authorities announced that four people, including one Australian, had been detained in connection with the attack Friday.{mosads}

A suspect wrote a more than 70-page anti-immigrant manifesto that included rhetoric against Muslims and other minorities. He also posted video and pictures of the attack on his social media pages before they were taken down.{mosads}

The suspect praised President Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.” The suspect also praised Dylan Roof, who killed nine African-American worshipers in a South Carolina church in 2015. 

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Friday said the suspect in the New Zealand attack was “wrong” to call Trump a symbol of “white identity.”

“He’s wrong. The shooter is an evil, hateful person. He’s wrong about that,” Conway told reporters at the White House.

Trump has condemned the attack and offered assistance to the country’s prime minister.