Anti-Muslim protests—some armed—planned for at least 20 sites across the country
The protests—or rallies or demonstrations or whatever the hell they’re calling them this month—aren’t news in the sense that people just found out about them, but I’m leaving this here since many non-Muslims who don’t follow bigots may not be aware of what’s going on. This is starting to cross over from free speech and border on domestic terrorism, so I’m filing this page in the “Terrorism” category. Yes, I’m aware there isn’t a single definition of terrorism, but the one used by the FBI works for me:
Definitions of Terrorism in the U.S. Code
“Domestic terrorism” means activities with the following three characteristics:
- Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
- Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and
- Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.
https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism-definition
These rallies claim to be in defense of humanity, freedom, the American way, etc. yet they easily meet bullet points two & three of the definition of domestic terrorism. Does anyone NOT see a problem with that?
Imagine armed KKK groups showing up to hold rallies at black churches nationwide. Or how about armed neo-Nazis holding rallies outside synagogues nationwide? Yeah, kinda hard to picture that being tolerated, isn’t it? But armed bigots showing up at mosques to verbally abuse & threaten American Muslims? *YAWN* Because, hey, it’s free speech and Muslims are scary, and let’s not forget 9/11, which every Muslim on the planet bears personal responsibility for!
Yes, this pisses me off. It pisses me off because eventually innocent American Muslims are going to get maimed or killed and America will *GASP* and act shocked—shocked I tell you!—that such a thing could happen here (never mind the damned near daily mass shootings and the Islamophobia being spewed by politicians).
Added emphasis is mine:
On Oct. 9 and 10, a group of loosely connected protesters plan to host anti-Muslim demonstrations in front of at least 20 mosques, community centers and government offices.
A Facebook page titled “Global Rally for Humanity” says “[h]umanity is attacked daily by radical Islam” and is calling for protests in “every country at every Mosque.” The page encourages “patriots” around the country to set up events in their own town with Facebook pages, telling organizers to “[r]emember to do your homework and find a local mosque in your area.”
While some organizers have urged participants to leave their weapons at home, others are urging protesters to exercise “ALL of your Constitutional Rights.”
The Michigan event page describes the Dearborn event as an “OPEN CARRY anti-mosque pro-AMERICA rally on 10/10!!” […]
Targeting ‘Justice or Else’ event
Many of the organizers have pointed to the Oct. 10, 2015, Justice or Else Million Man March 20th Anniversary in Washington, D.C. as the impetus for these rallies, noting that the event headliner is Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam. However, each of the announced events, except for the D.C. rally, are taking place at or near mosques and community centers unaffiliated with the Nation of Islam or the march itself. […]
More: Anti-Muslim protests—some armed—planned for at least 20 sites across the country
Looks like they’re doing the same thing in Australia:
“Militant” anti-Islamic protesters are threatening Victoria’s proud history of embracing cultural diversity, Victoria’s police chief has warned on the eve of planned protests targeting mosques.
Chief commissioner Graham Ashton said Victoria’s reputation for warmth and generosity was increasingly at risk from a new wave of intolerance.
Protesters, who last week staged a mock beheading outside the Bendigo council offices, plan to return to the city tomorrow for another rally.
The demonstration coincides with a series of similar anti-Islamic rallies in Australia and internationally.
Mr Ashton said while Victoria Police had a responsibility to uphold the rights of people to protest peacefully, people should also be able to practice their religion free from intimidation and persecution. […]
More: Mosque rallies prompt warning from Victorian police chief to ‘militant’ anti-Islam protesters
Regarding the emphasized part below, this is nothing but the emboldened scum of the scum reacting to the green light that right-wing politicians have given them.
Muslims prepare for weekend of anti-Islam protests
“We’ve never had this many events at once targeting mosques in this kind of national way,” said Heidi Beirich, who tracks hate groups at the Southern Poverty Law Center. […]
“This mix of racist groups, anti-Muslim groups and anti-government groups is basically a recipe for disaster,” Beirich said. […]
Some are scheduled for Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, but many are scheduled for Saturday, when mosques are often filled with children going to religious class. […]
Paul Galloway, executive director of the American Center for Outreach in Tennessee, said law enforcement agencies in Tennessee’s urban areas have been exceedingly cooperative as Muslims prepare for a possible onslaught of anti-Muslim sentiment.
But in the past three months alone, he added, two Tennessee sheriffs have publicly made anti-Muslim comments. In more rural areas where sheriffs are elected, such bigotry “degrades our confidence in law enforcement,” he added. […]
I had been somewhat concerned about the rally in Dearborn, especially since FOX News had aired a report that effectively incited violence in the form of a bomb threat, but the good news is that it seems the rally was largely a big flop—all of about a dozen idiots showed up, four of them armed.
Special thanks goes out to GWS (RWC), who took time to check the Facebook pages of the various events and report back that most had either disappeared or gotten very few attendee responses.