Conservatives lose their shit over a lot of things. People peacefully practicing any religion other than Christianity –namely Islam — turns them into raging, violent lunatics. As Islamophobia reaches a fever pitch among rabidly Christian, gun-wielding right wingers, public incidents of terrorizing Muslims simply for existing, continue to become more common. One such incident has occurred at a Mosque in Phoenix, Arizona.
The latest protest at this Mosque is part of a series of armed protests against Muslims by people who believe that Muslims want to take over America. Calling these protests a Global Rally for Humanity, the protests haven’t attracted many people, until now. The Phoenix protest drew roughly 120 people, many armed with various firearms, including assault weapons.
One of the organizers for the Phoenix protest, a self-identified militia member named Gary Burleson, who admits to spending much of his free time patrolling the border, said of the adherents to the Islamic faith:
“I want them the fuck out of my neighborhood. They can practice Islam in their own country. I don’t want it shoved down my throat in my own country.”
Apparently, Mr. Burleson and his fellow ignorant militia men and gun nuts don’t seem to understand the concept of freedom of religion, upon which the United States was founded. They don’t have to go anywhere, sir. They are perfectly within their rights to practice their religion right where they are, per the U.S. Constitution.
A protester, who identified himself as “Richard,” referred to the protest as “a wonderful way for people to get out and express themselves.” He went on to say:
“We don’t want Islam to take over the country and that’s what they want to do. They want to take over the world.”
Luckily, there were counter-protesters there as well, promoting tolerance of the people worshipping behind the locked gates of the Mosque and Islamic Community Center. One such counter-protester, Joanne Scott Woods, said that the militia people and gun nuts “have freedom of speech but they are bigoted. Just bigoted. We can’t change that. I’m glad they’re not shooting us.”
Sumayyah Dawud, who identifies as pro-second amendment, pointed out that the guns at such an event are not about demonstrating support for the right to bear arms, but instead are “carrying guns with the intention of intimidation.”
“They say they’re standing for the second amendment but what they’re really trying to do is intimidate peaceful worshippers.”
Though the protest was mostly peaceful, there was an incident that riot police had to break up, where a few of the gun nuts came over the metal barricades. Luckily, no one was hurt.
The people who operated the Islamic Community Center and Mosque wisely decided to stay inside rather than attempting to reason with the rabid bigots outside. Islamic Community Center President Usama Shami said it was no use trying to talk sense into these people, saying:
“What am I going to talk to them about? There is no common ground.”
Shami said that he fears what could happen if these people keep whipping up fears about Muslims and Islam:
“What these guys are doing is creating an atmosphere of hatred.We live in a time where we witness mass shootings every day. There are people who are less stable mentally and it could push them over the edge.“When you plant these seeds in the minds of people – that Muslims are going to hurt you at some point – you could have incidents.”
Of course, one of the people at the forefront of this event was none other than the infamous Jon Ritzheimer, the man famous for begging for money online to continue his anti-Muslim crusade, and to “protect” good, God-fearing, gun-toting conservative Christians. He promoted his cause under the banner of “education” and “peace and love”:
“We’re just exercising our first-amendment [free speech] rights. We’re all about peace and love. We’re educating people.”
He gestured at the mosque:
“Take away their 501c [tax-exempt status]. Let Donald Trump build something beautiful.”
Yes, Mr. Ritzheimer, you have the first amendment right to do what you do, no matter how bigoted and ignorant. However, there is nothing loving or educational about what you are up to. It’s all about hate for those who are different from you, and you know it.
Hopefully, nothing violent happens to these peaceful people or their Mosque. However, if it does, at least police will know where to look first.
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