Few leads on Iowa City hate note

IOWA CITY - Despite a reward offered by CrimeStoppers, Iowa City police have not received any tips about a hateful letter found taped to the door of an Iowa City family's house earlier this month.

Police have collected evidence in the case and are processing it as part of the investigation, said Lt. Zach Diersen.

Amar Samel and Muna Abdalla were scared after finding a note on their door Nov. 12 that said: 'You can all go home now. We don't want (a racial epithet) and terrorists here. #Trump.”

Samel called 911, but a police officer who called back declined to go to the house. Police quickly apologized for the lack of immediate action and have since met with the family and started an investigation.

Iowa City Area CrimeStoppers announced Nov. 17 it would offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person or people who left the note. Anyone with information about this crime can contact CrimeStoppers at (319) 358-8477 or iccrimestoppers.org.

Iowa City Police Sgt. Scott Gaarde said Wednesday the agency has not received any tips so far.

Samel and Abdalla have lived in their house nearly a year, helping with construction of the Habitat for Humanity home in 2015. The family moved to the United States from Sudan in 2010 and became naturalized citizens in May 2015. The couple has four children, ages 8 to 16.

As the story about the note spread online, the family started getting letters of support, first locally, then nationally, then from other countries. More than 120 letters to the family were sent to The Gazette, which then delivered them unopened to Samel and Abdalla.