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#MuslimNeighborhood Hashtag Surfaces After Cruz, Trump Show Support for Neighborhood Patrols

Asian Americans and Muslims responded to the attacks in Brussels with sympathies and reminders that the large majority of Muslims are not terrorists.
Image: People observe a minute of silence at the Place de la Bourse
People observe a minute of silence at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded yesterday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. Martin Meissner / AP

After the attacks in Brussels on Tuesday morning, and after the comments by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in favor of torture techniques like waterboarding, as well as comments by both Trump and presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz in favor of patrolling Muslim neighborhoods in the U.S., Muslims and Asian Americans used social media to respond.

First, Asian Americans and Muslims in Europe and the U.S. responded to the attacks in Brussels with their sympathies and reminders that the large majority of Muslims are not terrorists.

Others urged caution against anti-Muslim backlash.

The Sikh community spread information about how people in Brussels could find food, shelter, and other help from the Sikh gurdwara in Brussels.

Both Asian-American and Muslim-American leaders pointed out that Trump and Cruz’s calls for additional surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods were unconstitutional and un-American.

Then people of all backgrounds began to use the hashtag #MuslimNeighborhood across social media to show Trump and Cruz what Muslim neighborhoods are really like.

First things first: the food.

Then, the fun and the families.

Finally, a reminder of the danger of anti-Muslim sentiments to all communities.

And a warning to Trump and Cruz themselves:

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