IAMC Condemns Mass Shooting Plot at Illinois Hindu Temple, Five Months After San Diego Mosque Attack

Washington, D.C. (October 15, 2026) The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) strongly condemns the alleged white supremacist plot to carry out a mass shooting at a Hindu temple in Aurora, Illinois. Coming five months after the deadly attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego, the plot is a stark reminder that the same violent ideology is targeting Muslims, Hindus and other communities of color at their places of worship.

“Worshippers in Aurora came within one malfunctioning rifle of a massacre,” said Mohammed Jawad, President of IAMC. “San Diego and Aurora show the same white supremacist movement radicalizing young men online and sending them to attack people at prayer. Every community it targets has a stake in confronting it together.”

Authorities say the 19-year-old suspect drove to the temple armed with a rifle and body armor, but his weapon jammed and he was arrested after a coworker alerted police. A manifesto attributed to him called for a “mass shooting of Indian people.” In May, two teenage gunmen who cited the Christchurch mosque massacre as inspiration killed three people at the San Diego mosque.

IAMC urges prosecutors to pursue hate crime charges, calls on federal agencies to prioritize investigating the online networks that radicalize these attackers, and calls on Congress to expand security funding for houses of worship.

IAMC also calls on elected officials across the political spectrum to tone down anti-Muslim, anti-Indian and anti-South Asian rhetoric and reject language that stigmatizes entire communities based on their religion, ethnicity, or national origin.