SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) – Victims’ families and a Muslim community leader have spent the year since a terror attack in San Bernardino, California, trying to counter what some feared would be a backlash against Muslims.
Victims’ families encouraged dialogue and tolerance. Muslim leaders undertook a campaign to educate neighbors about Islam.
Hate crimes against Muslims were up last year and there were other attacks by Muslim radicals, including the nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida, that left 49 people dead. But San Bernardino residents’ worst fears about a backlash in their community didn’t materialize.
The city east of Los Angeles will mark the anniversary Friday of the Dec. 2 attack when an Islamic State group-inspired husband and wife opened fire on a meeting of county employees, killing 14 and wounding 22.
