NEWARK, N.J. – Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement regarding today’s terrorist attack in two Mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand:
“My heart goes out to the families and friends of all those that were so brutally murdered in this act of right-wing terrorist extremism. Places of worship - for all faiths - should be sacred, not targets for misplaced and misguided barbarism by those who convince themselves that acts of cold-blooded mass murder are somehow their duty.
“All of us who occupy places of public trust must be certain that our language, our messages, our rhetoric and our policy stands against such depraved actions. When leaders fail to condemn such acts but instead embolden violence of this sort, the result is incivility and bloodshed that impoverishes us all. New Zealand is a long-standing friend and partner of the United States. We stand today with the people of New Zealand, with its Islamic community, and with people of all faiths around the globe.”
###