Concerns about a campaign that originated in England urging violence against Muslims on Tuesday prompted Lincoln Public Schools to send messages to Arabic-speaking families to assure them school is a safe place.
Lincoln police briefed their team captains about the hate-filled campaign after being alerted to it by officials from the Center for People in Need.
Earlier this month, letters containing posters for “Punish A Muslim Dayâ€Â — with specific suggestions about violent activities — were mailed to six communities in England. British authorities launched a counterterrorism investigation earlier this month, and word of the posters has spread through social media.
Lincoln police have no information to suggest violence will occur here, said Officer Angela Sands, but officers will patrol mosques or organizations that serve Muslim residents as staffing and time permit, Sands said.
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Beatty Brasch, executive director of the Center for People in Need, alerted police to the poster and decided to cancel the center's English Language Learner classes Tuesday in case Muslim families prefer to stay home.
"I'm concerned, because you just don’t know," Brasch said. "I assume nothing's going to happen, but you don’t have a clue."
LPS officials sent letters to families of the 1,415 students who list Arabic as their home language to assure them district officials are aware of the campaign and taking it seriously.
Linda Hix, LPS director of federal programs, said they’d begun getting calls from families who’d heard about the threat and were worried.
“We just care about our families and want to support them and want them to feel good about sending their children to school,†she said.
Because LPS doesn’t ask about religious affiliation, they sent the letter to families this weekend, then shared the letter with other staff who’d begun to hear about the campaign, she said.
The letter tells parents the district is working closely with its security team and local authorities, urges families to let their children know school is a safe place to be and reminds them that if they feel uncomfortable or that they’re in danger to tell an adult immediately.Â