NEW YORK (AP) — A coalition of publishers and literary agencies are teaming with PEN America on an initiative meant to counter a growing trend of harassment against members of the literary community.
PEN America, the century-old free expression organization, announced Friday that it was launching the U.S. Safety Program, which would provide safety training and other resources for authors amid a wave of censorship efforts around the country.
“We have heard from countless authors, illustrators, and translators who are under siege, fending off a steady stream of abuse and threats, online and at book events,” said Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, co-chief executive officer of PEN America. “Through this new program, the literary and publishing community is stepping up together because writers should not be forced to choose between their safety and their voice.”
Viktorya Vilk, who directs PEN's digital safety efforts, told The Associated Press that she first noticed a rise in harassment against journalists a decade ago, around the time Donald Trump was first elected president, and has seen it spread to writers and educators over the past couple of years. Maia Kababe, Jon Evison and George Johnson are among the authors of censored works who have spoken out about being harassed and threatened and even physically assaulted.
Ashley Hope Pérez, whose young adult novel “Out of Darkness” became a target for censors over its depictions of sex and sexual abuse, says she had to take down her office email and telephone. “I got hate mail and all kinds of ugly phone calls,” says Pérez, who teaches at Ohio State University.
According to PEN, it has raised nearly $1 million through contributions from Hachette Book Group, Macmillan Publishers and Penguin Random House among others. This spring, Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Egan and Lee Child will be among the writers auctioning off character names for future novels, with the proceeds benefiting the safety program. PEN will be building on other programs from recent years, including digital safety workshops held for Hachette authors in 2023.
“There have probably never been as many threats to authors’ safety as there are currently in the U.S,” Hachette CEO David Shelley said in a statement. “We’re proud to support this much-needed program from PEN America that will give writers a wide range of professional resources to help them deal with threats to their safety, online and offline.”
FILE - An LGBTQ+ section appears at Fabulosa Books in the Castro District of San Francisco on June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Haven Daley, File)
FILE - Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center in Salt Lake City, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents, including "Gender Queer" by Meir Kobabe, on Dec. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Two teenage suspects killed three men in a shooting at a San Diego mosque Monday before killing themselves a few blocks away, authorities said. Police Chief Scott Wahl said a security guard at the Islamic Center of San Diego was among those killed and that the case is being investigated as a hate crime.
About two hours before the attack, the mother of one of the suspects called police to report that her son was missing, Wahl told a news conference. She feared he might be suicidal, and she eventually realized that several of her weapons were missing, along with her vehicle.
The case became even more urgent when police learned that he was dressed in camouflage and that he was in the company of an acquaintance, and officers began using whatever technology they had available to locate the teens, including automated license plate readers.
Wahl said that’s when police began getting reports of a shooting.
The Islamic Center is the largest mosque in San Diego County, according to its website. It's about 9 miles (15 kilometers) north of downtown San Diego.
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There had been no specific threat made against the Islamic Center of San Diego, but San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said investigators were aware of “generalized hate rhetoric” in the case and are investigating the attack as a hate crime.
Wahl noted that the mother of one of the suspects found a note he left behind, but the chief declined to disclose its contents.
Wahl says that about two hours before the attack, the mother of one of the suspects called police to report that her son was missing.
Wahl told a news conference the she feared he might be suicidal, and she eventually realized that several of her weapons were missing, along with her vehicle.
The case became even more urgent when police learned that he was dressed in camouflage and that he was in the company of an acquaintance, and officers began using whatever technology they had available to locate the teens, including automated license plate readers.
Wahl said that’s when police began getting reports of a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego. Responding officers found the three victims at the mosque and the two teens dead of apparently self-inflicted gunshot wounds in a vehicle nearby.
That’s according to Sharp Memorial Hospital spokesperson Erica Carlson.
Carlson says the hospital did not expect to receive additional patients but was staying in contact with the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services.
The hospital declined to provide additional details.
That’s according to the center’s website.
Aerial TV footage showed more than a dozen children holding hands and being walked out of the parking lot of the center as it was surrounded by scores of police vehicles.
Parents were directed to a nearby area to retrieve their children.
The white mosque is in a neighborhood of homes, apartments and strip malls with Middle Eastern restaurants and markets.
“All of the kids are safe,” Wahl said, appearing emotional. “Our hearts go out to the families that are in this moment being notified of what has happened to their loved ones.”
Imam Taha Hassane also said at a news conference that “all the places of worship in our beautiful city should always be protected.”
Tazheen Nizam of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in San Diego says that “no one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school.”
Nizam says in a statement that CAIR is “working to learn more about this incident and we encourage everyone to keep this community in your prayers.”
That’s according to Chief Wahl.
Wahl says that as officers responded to the mosque, they also fielded reports of gunfire a few blocks away, where a landscaper was shot at but was uninjured.
He says the suspects were found dead in a vehicle stopped in the middle of a road nearby.
Imam Taha Hassane says it also works to build relations in the community.
He told a news conference that a group of non-Muslims had been touring the mosque earlier Monday to learn about the Muslim faith.
That’s according to San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl.
Chief Scott Wahl says both suspects are believed to be teens and that the case is considered to be a hate crime.
“We are grateful to the first responders on the scene working to protect the community and urge everyone to follow guidance from local authorities,” his office posted on the social platform X.
Children hold hand as they walk near the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
People carry weapons at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
A woman watches from a distance at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Two men embrace at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Police stage at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Police stage at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
A body is covered with a tarp at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
People stand behind police tape at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
A sheriff's deputy stages at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
