Counter-terrorism police are investigating an apparent transatlantic anti-Muslim campaign after hate mail and suspicious packages were sent from a location near Sheffield to mosques in London, South Yorkshire and the US. Handwritten notes were received by three mosques and other addresses across London in July. They all bore a Sheffield postmark, as did hate mail received by at least four US mosques earlier this year, and by three UK mosques in July last year.

Pictures of the letters seen by the Guardian show many of them featured the same pseudonym or initials. Three of the letters received by US mosques were sent at the same time, with the postmarks reading 5.14pm or 5.15pm on 22 February. “There were two second-class stamps on all the letters sent to the US, which is interesting,” said Steve Rose, who is responsible for content at Faith Matters, a community action group working to counter extremism.

There were also similarities in handwriting and imagery in the letters seen by the Guardian. “There are similarities in the shape of the numbers,” Rose said. “It could be one person sending them, it could be several people.” Forest Gate mosque, Coventry Cross mosque in Bromley-by-Bow, and Shacklewell Lane mosque in Dalston all received letters last month saying the sender would be visiting the mosques.

In July 2016, packages containing white powder were sent to the parliamentary office of Nazir Ahmed, an independent peer, and three mosques in Leyton, Finsbury Park and Tottenham, as well as the Bank of England. “In 2016 this person targets three mosques in London, in 2017 also three mosques,” Rose said.

The letters contained offensive language directed towards Pakistani Muslims. A letter sent to a New Jersey mosque threatened to kill Muslims and featured an offensive cartoon…

Source: The Guardian