A dozen of armed protesters rallied outside the Islamic Center of Irving, Texas on Saturday, calling for an end to the “Islamization of America” in response to rumors about Syrian refugees and Sharia court.
Protest organizer David Wright told the Dallas Morning News that the weapons were mainly for “self-protection,” but noted that “we do want to show force. We’re not sitting ducks.”
The town of Irving was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year when police arrested a fourteen-year-old Muslim student who brought a homemade clock to school, accusing him of constructing a bomb.
According to Wright, who is a member of a group which calls itself the Bureau of American Islamic Relations, protesters were upset by rumors circulated online that the mosque was operating a sharia court. Wright also said that members of the local Muslim community lodged death threats against Irving Mayor Beth Duyne earlier this year — a claim The Dallas Morning News concluded that there was “no evidence” to support — and were concerned about “plans to let in Syrian refugees,” The News reported.
One masked protester dressed in black walked down the sidewalk with a rifle, video taken outside the mosque shows.
Armed Demonstration in front of the Islamic Center of Irving focused on stopping “Islamization of America” pic.twitter.com/iRQI4eqPjO
— Zahid Arab (@ZahidArabFox4) November 21, 2015
The mosque posted a statement on Facebook advising members of the community to ignore the protesters. City Council member David Palmer stopped by the protest after hearing about it from a concerned member of the mosque.
Demonstrators call themselves the "Anti-CAIR". (Council on American-Islamic Relations) pic.twitter.com/YTQRApDUUk
— Zahid Arab (@ZANews16) November 21, 2015
“My initial impression was they were using them for intimidation,” Palmer told, told the Dallas Morning News. “I doubt that they’d be happy if some of the Muslim churchgoers here showed up at their Christian church, their Baptist church, their Methodist church tomorrow morning with rifles slung over their shoulders.”
armed protestors at Irving Islamic Center, protesting the rumored "shariah court" here they read about online. pic.twitter.com/8vHki9xVPt
— Avi Selk (@aviselk) November 21, 2015
Saturday’s protest comes at a time of escalating anti-Islamic and anti-refugee rhetoric in the wake of the deadly terror attacks in Paris that left more than 120 dead. 31 Republican and Democratic governors in the U.S. have publicly sworn to stop accepting Syrian refugees, while GOP presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush have suggested only accepting Christian refugees. France, meanwhile, pledged to welcome 30,000 refugees over the next two years, despite concerns from ultra-right nationalist leaders.
Wright, on the other hand, said he wants to block Syrian refugees from entering the United States.
“We don’t want people to think we’re out to kill people or shoot people,” he told The News. However, he added, “It would be ridiculous to protest Islam without defending ourselves.”
— Avi Selk (@aviselk) November 21, 2015