Motherfuckers, another reason to be ashamed of Virginia tonight:

A meeting Tuesday evening to discuss a proposed Islamic mosque in Spotsylvania County quickly turned combative, with one man proclaiming, “Every Muslim is a terrorist.”

Samer Shalaby, a trustee of the Islamic Center of Fredericksburg, began what was advertised as a “community meeting” with a moment of silence for the victims of Friday’s terrorist attack in Paris. After the moment, a man said, “Amen and thank you!” and another person proclaimed “praise God!”

Shalaby then started a presentation on the Islamic Center’s plan to build an 8,000-square-foot mosque at the corner of Old Plank Road and Andora Drive. The mosque would move there from its current location on Harrison Road, across State Route 3 from Harrison Crossing.

But it didn’t take long before Shalaby was interrupted by a man who said, “Nobody, nobody, nobody wants your evil cult.”

Some people in the packed room at the Chancellor Community Center—including opponents of the project—expressed disagreement, while others clapped.

“I will do everything in my power to make sure this does not happen because you are terrorists,” the man continued. “Every one of you are terrorists.”

“How do you come up with that?” Shalaby replied.

Shortly thereafter, a uniformed sheriff’s deputy in attendance said he would stop the meeting “if this gets to a violent point.” He noted that he was greatly outnumbered.
“Can we at least please keep it civil for me and my wife and my three children?” the deputy said.

Supervisor Timothy McLaughlin, whose Chancellor District includes the proposed mosque site next to the Ashleigh Park subdivision, asked the crowd to let Shalaby give his presentation before posing questions.

That didn’t happen, and the tension continued to escalate—with shouting matches and expletives—until the deputy waved his arms and called off the meeting.

“Listen to me, it’s done,” the deputy said. The attendees complied with his order to exit the building.

One of the last exchanges happened when a man shouted, “If you want to do your thing, go to Fairfax!”

“Well guess what, we’re already here,” Shalaby replied. “And guess what, we are not going anywhere.”

He said the Islamic Center has been in the Fredericksburg area for nearly three decades and at its current location since 2000.

fredericksburg.com