Armed anti-Islam protesters gathered outside the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix during an organized “free speech rally” against Islam on Friday night. A line of police officers stood between about 250 anti-Islam protesters who hurled insults at an equal number of counter-protesters defending the religion.
#phx police put barriers and yellow tape in place and stand between yelling groups outside #PHxMosque pic.twitter.com/kTLc2lwc8A
— Eric English (@EricEnglish777) May 30, 2015
Jon Ritzheimer, a former Marine and organizer of the event, asked attendees to “utilize their Second Amendment right,” or the right to bear arms, outside the mosque as Friday evening prayers known as Jummah were set to take place inside the Islamic Community center. Ritzheimer wore a T-shirt reading “F — — Islam,” and counterprotesters wore shirts reading “Love thy neighbor,” CNN reported. Some anti-Islam protesters also brought guns. No arrests were made as police attempted to keep protesters apart.
A few of the well-armed people at the #PHxMosque Friday night pic.twitter.com/K4xHSnAcSM
— Eric English (@EricEnglish777) May 30, 2015
Ritzheimer said that he wanted to “see more of these events pop up in other states. …I want fellow patriots standing right here next to me. This isn’t about me. Everybody’s been thinking it, I’m just saying it,” the Washington Post reported. He organized a similar, smaller demonstration weeks ago after Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi were shot and killed by police outside a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest last month in Dallas, Texas. Simpson and Soofi had been attendants at the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix up until 2010. A few hadiths, or supplementary teaching to the Quran, prohibit the visual depiction of the prophet.
Usama Shami, the president of the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix, said prior to the event that he would respect the protesters’ right to free speech. “Everybody has a right to be a bigot. Everybody has a right to be a racist. Everybody has a right to be an idiot,” Shami said, according to a local NBC affiliate. “It will be the same as every Friday evening and we’re going to tell our members what we’ve told them before: not to engage them. They’re not looking for an intellectual conversation. They’re looking to stir up controversy and we’re not going to be a part of it.” American Muslims previously defended an anti-Ismam group’s right to free speech after the Texas shooting as well.
Still, the display of anti-Islamic sentiment is just the latest in a spate of incidents against Muslims around the country. In Texas alone, there were at least five anti-mosque incidents between 2006 and 2010. In February, fire officials suspected that an accelerant was used to burn down an Islamic community and education center in Houston, Texas, an event that came just days after a gunman shot three young North Carolina Muslims. Earlier this year, Texas state Rep. Molly White (R) wrote a Facebook post telling Muslims to “renounce Islamic terrorist groups and publicly announce allegiance to America and our laws.”
