In an online petition asking for the removal of the recently elected Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Florida official wrote that the Democrat would ‘blow up Capitol Hill.’

The anti-Muslim language came from Hallandale Beach commissioner Annabelle Lima-Taub, who shared a link to the personally signed petition and wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post: “A Hamas-loving anti-Semite has NO place in government! She is a danger and [I] would not put it past her to become a martyr and blow up Capitol Hill.”

Tlaib made history, along with Ilhan Omar, as the first Muslim women elected to Congress during the midterm election. She is also the first Palestinian-American elected to the national legislature.

In response to the hate speech, Tlaib urged Americans to see the bigger picture. The language used against her was, more likely than not, rhetoric emboldened by President Trump.

“This sort of hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” Tlaib tweeted. “This president embraced it and Republicans have happily gone along with it.”

This sort of hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric doesn’t happen in a vacuum – this President embraced it and Republicans have happily gone along with it.https://t.co/3THoHQmRVy— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 15, 2019

According to The Hill, Muslim advocacy groups are now demanding a public apology from Lima-Taub, who has remained silent.

“That level of racism and bigotry has no place in Florida’s politics,” Vetnah Monessar, director of Emerge, a nonprofit geared toward elevating civic engagement among Muslim Americans, told The Hill. “Muslims are part of the fabric of this country. We demand that Commissioner Taub apologize to her constituents and the general public.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is now calling for Lima-Taub’s resignation, claiming her "xenophobic statements establish that she is unfit to hold the Commissioner’s seat," HuffPost reports.

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