US: Muslims raise 80K to repair Jewish cemetery

NEW YORK

Muslim activists raised more than $78,000 as of early Wednesday afternoon to help repair a vandalized a Jewish cemetery near St. Louis, Missouri.

Organizers said they were "overjoyed" that the campaign on launchgood.com reached its goal of $20,000 within three hours and went on to achieve almost four times that with more than 2,800 supporters contributing.

Organized by civil rights activist Linda Sarsour and social entrepreneur Tarek El-Messidi, the campaign comes amid heightened threats and hate crimes against Jewish people across the country.

"Muslim Americans stand in solidarity with the Jewish-American community to condemn this horrific act of desecration against the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery," the campaign says on the website. "We also extend our deepest condolences to all those who have been affected and to the Jewish community at large."

More than 170 headstones were damaged Sunday overnight at the cemetery, located in the St. Louis suburb of University City.

Missouri Governor Eric Greitens called the vandalism an "act of senseless desecration" in a tweet Monday.

The FBI and the Department of Justice announced earlier this week they were investigating a slew of threats on Jewish centers across the U.S.

At a D.C. speech Tuesday, President Donald Trump said the threats were "a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil."