Meeting set to counteract backlash

Stacy J. Willis

Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2001 | 10:10 a.m.

Gov. Kenny Guinn will meet with Nevada's religious leaders and law enforcement officials Thursday to discuss hate-crime prevention efforts in the aftermath of last week's terrorist attacks.

Political leaders across the nation have held similar summits to counteract a rise in threats against Muslims and Arab-Americans in the last week.

In Las Vegas, Metro Police officers have responded to more than 15 incidents of hate since a group of hijackers of Middle-Eastern descent flew passenger airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

In Arizona, a Sikh man was killed in an apparent hate crime on Saturday.

Nevada Muslim, Mormon, Catholic, Jewish and other faith leaders have been invited to participate in the summit along with elected officials and representatives of civil liberties groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada and the National Conference for Community and Justice.

"This is at time for Americans to come together, not to turn against one another in displays of misguided anger," Guinn said in a news release.

"Violence, threats and harassment against any individual because of race or ethnicity goes against the very fiber on which this nation is built. I fully understand the rage caused by death and destruction created by terrorists, but there is no excuse for attacking or threatening other Americans because of their race or religious beliefs."

The summit will be held at the Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington, at 2 p.m.