Can't See Anything That Could Possibly Go Wrong...

[Lord Jim]

Phoenix braces for anti-Islam rally

Less than a month after a shooting at a similar event in Texas, an anti-Islam rally in Phoenix, Arizona, has scheduled its own Muhammad cartoon-drawing contest.

The competition is set to take place Friday outside the Islamic Community Center in the Arizona city where Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi — the perpetrators of that attack — used to worship.

In a Facebook event for the contest, entitled “Freedom of Speech Rally Round II,” organizer Jon Ritzheimer wrote, “This is in response to the recent attack in Texas where 2 armed terrorist, with ties to ISIS, attempted Jihad.”

Ritzheimer, a former Marine, also wrote that protesters should come armed, expecting a confrontation.

“People are also encouraged to utilize there [sic] second amendment right at this event just incase [sic] our first amendment comes under the much anticipated attack.”

A local news channel reported that the FBI and Phoenix police have confirmed that they are aware of the protest.

Ritzheimer told the station that despite the Phoenix mosque’s condemnation of Simpson and Soofi’s attack, he still decided to organize the rally.

“They’ve come out and they’ve condemned ISIS,” he said. “Unfortunately, we have to hold the cartoon contest, as silly as it sounds, to be able to show the true colors of Islam.”

The organizer said that he will be wearing a shirt that says “F—- Islam” at the rally and will be bringing additional shirts for fellow protesters.

But he doesn’t plan on the rally being all fun and games.

“We will not have food vendors at this event because we don’t want this to turn into a carnival,” Ritzheimer wrote on the Facebook page. “People can bring snacks and water but please keep the neighborhood clean.”

“There will be no after party!” he added.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/p ... 18401.html

[Big RR]

“People are also encouraged to utilize there [sic] second amendment right at this event just incase [sic] our first amendment comes under the much anticipated attack.”

This scares the hell out of me.

Indeed, it comes pretty close to an incitement to violence.

[Joe Guy]

Should be a fun day for the kids.

'Let's go son, don't forget to bring bullets for your handgun!'

[Lord Jim]

But he doesn’t plan on the rally being all fun and games.

I guess that means there'll be no balloons or face painting....

Or Pin-the-devil's-tail-On-the-Imam...

[Lord Jim]

Indeed, it comes pretty close to an incitement to violence.

I'm actually inclined to agree with you on that Big RR...

This fellow is encouraging people to come armed, itchin' for a fight...

I saw the Phoenix police chief interviewed this morning, and he seems to be confident that they have sufficient resources in place (and contact with the event organizers) to prevent a tragedy...

How great would it be, if this confrontational event went off without a hitch?

How great would it be if the response from the Islamic community was, "say what you want we don't care; we have our rights and so do you"....

If I were advising the leaders of the Islamic community in Phoenix, I would suggest to them that when this bunch shows up, they tell their members to respond by walking outside of the Mosque and singing The Star Spangled Banner ...

That would not only confuse the bully boys...

What a splendid visual it would be...

[wesw]

commented omitted for the sake of national unity.

(insert picture of my head exploding)

[RayThom]

It seems to be an excellent way for the DHS and FBI to draw out a domestic terrorism cell. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised to find that USMC vet and good ol' boy, Jon Ritzheimer, is an undercover operative whose job it is to specifically foment trouble of this magnitude.

In the scheme of things what's the death of a handful of kids as compared to the mayhem and destruction that a group of towel-head, disenfranchise citizens, can cause?

Crayola and Jihad... perfect together!

[wesw]

you can borrow my tin foil hat.....

[Lord Jim]

I wouldn't be surprised to find that USMC vet and good ol' boy, Jon Ritzheimer, is an undercover operative whose job it is to specifically foment trouble of this magnitude.

Ray, that sounds like Steveism...

[RayThom]

It wreaks havoc on the ol' nasal passages. And to make matters worse, I ran out of tinfoil.

I'm often accused of over-thinking when all I need to do is apply Occam's Razor to the situation. Sorry, I'll try to do better next time.

[Lord Jim]

PHOENIX —About 250 mostly armed anti-Muslim demonstrators — many wearing T-shirts bearing a profanity-laced message denouncing Islam — faced-off against a crowd of roughly the same size defending the faith in front of a Phoenix mosque Friday night.

Demonstrators yelled and taunted one another across a line of police separating the two sides but violence did not break out.

Jon Ritzheimer, the organizer of the protest, called it a patriotic sign of resistance against what he deemed the tyranny of Islam in America.

“I would love to see more of these events pop up in other states,” Ritzheimer said. “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.”

Usama Shami, president of the Islamic center, said he was not surprised by the event.

“This is not new. Hatred, bigotry, racism — that’s old. It’s the same thing,” he said. “No different from Nazis or neo-Nazis. They don’t believe society should be multicultural or multiethnic. They think everyone should believe like them, I guess.”

Ritzheimer began demonstrating after two Phoenix residents carrying assault rifles were killed by police outside a Muhammed cartoon-drawing contest in suburban Dallas earlier this month. In the days following the shooting, Ritzheimer began making and selling the T-shirts. Nearly two weeks ago, he organized a protest at the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix, where a few dozen others joined him.

Ritzheimer said he’s received threats from terrorists on Twitter, and that he and his family no longer feel safe in their home. He said he asked participants to bring guns in the Facebook invite as a precautionary measure. Some brought two or three firearms, from pistols and revolvers to shotguns and assault rifles. Ritzheimer carried a 9mm Glock 26. Some wore military fatigues.

The event kicked off with Ritzheimer inviting his supporters to draw cartoons of Muhammed and bashing the religion’s prohibition against creating depictions of the Islamic prophet.

“I can’t let my kids grow up in a society where tyranny is reigning over. I’ve got ISIS posting my address. This is terrorism at its finest, right here in America,” he said. “My family has to go into hiding.”

Paul Griffin, a Phoenix resident, said that the rally exposed Islam as contrary to American rights.

“They want us to cower in fear because of a cartoon that somebody drew? What the hell happened to this country?” Griffin said. “I don’t care if I offend anyone. This is America.”

Ali Yoseph, a 28-year-old Phoenix resident, was among the protesters opposing Ritzheimer.

“We’re all American here,” he said. “If this was a Christian church right here, or if this was a Jewish church, I swear to you, I would be right here to protect it. Because this in the end is a house of God.”

His brother, 26-year-old Ya Ali Yoseph, said that while he found the drawing of Muhammed objectionable, he hoped people would gain understanding about Islam and its practices.

“Of course it’s offensive,” he said of the cartoon drawing that took place. “We have 124,000 prophets in Islam. Prophet Muhammed was the last prophet. We don’t draw pictures of our prophets. Jesus was a prophet. We don’t draw pictures of Jesus… In the Koran, there’s a quote that says, Allah made you different groups, different tribes, different races, so you can go and learn from each other, so we can come closer to each other. This is a test, to see how you treat people of different color, different ethnicity.”

As the event wound down around 9:30 p.m., Ritzheimer told the crowd that he felt he is now forced into hiding because of his opposition to Islam, and the threats he said his family has received.

“Was this worth it? You know what, let’s ask our founding fathers if it was worth it for them to sign the Declaration of Independence. [I saw this guy interviewed by Anderson Cooper on Friday; equating himself with The Founding Fathers is something he's fond of doing.... ] They jeopardized their families. They put their families into jeopardy, if they would have been caught… Yeah, it was worth it. We have to draw the line now.” Ritzheimer said. “(Am I) done with the cause? No. I can never be done with the cause. I’m still a patriot.”

Although the event was marked by inflammatory messages and a tangible divide between the two sides, it wasn’t without some reconciliation.

Jason Leger, a Phoenix resident wearing one of the profanity-laced shirts, accepted an invitation to join the evening prayer inside the mosque, and said the experience changed him.

“It was something I’ve never seen before. I took my shoes off. I kneeled. I saw a bunch of peaceful people. We all got along,” Leger said. “They made me feel welcome, you know. I just think everybody’s points are getting misconstrued, saying things out of emotion, saying things they don’t believe.”

Paul Griffin, who had earlier said he didn’t care if his t-shirt was offensive, assured a small crowd of Muslims at the end of the rally that he wouldn’t wear it again.

“I promise, the next time you see me, I won’t be wearing this shirt,” he told one man while shaking his hand and smiling. “I won’t wear it again.”

Usama Shami, the president of the ICCP, invited anyone to join him and the 800 members of the mosque for a prayer.

“A lot of them, they’ve never met a Muslim, or they haven’t had interactions with Muslims,” he said. “A lot of them are filled with hate and rage. Maybe they went to websites that charged them with this hatred. So when you sit down and talk like rational people, without all these slogans, without being bigots, without bringing guns, they will find out that they’re talking to another human.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post ... m-protest/

[RayThom]

... God Bless America! (No one else will.)

[Econoline]

“A lot of them, they’ve never met a Muslim, or they haven’t had interactions with Muslims,” he said. “A lot of them are filled with hate and rage. Maybe they went to websites that charged them with this hatred. So when you sit down and talk like rational people, without all these slogans, without being bigots, without bringing guns, they will find out that they’re talking to another human.”

Amen.

[oldr_n_wsr]

So when you sit down and talk like rational people, without all these slogans, without being bigots, without bringing guns, they will find out that they’re talking to another human.”

Maybe something good will come out of this.

[Big RR]

We can only hope.

[Gob]

Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders has said he will show cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a TV slot allocated to his party.

The cartoons were shown at an event in Texas last month which was attacked by two gunmen. Mr Wilders was a keynote speaker at the event. Mr Wilders says he will show the cartoons because parliament had refused to exhibit them on its premises. Depictions of the Prophet Muhammad are offensive to many Muslims.

"Terrorists have to realise that they will never win and how important freedom of speech is for us in the Netherlands," Mr Wilders said in a statement. Mr Wilders, who leads the Party for Freedom (PVV), has often expressed his distaste for Islam and mass immigration and has called for the Koran to be banned in the Netherlands.

In December 2014 it was announced he would be prosecuted over allegations that he incited racial hatred against the country's Moroccan community.

Both the gunmen who attacked the Muhammad Art Exhibit at a conference centre near Dallas on 3 May were shot dead by police. One policeman was injured.

The conference included a contest that offered a $10,000 (£6,600) prize for a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. There were widespread protests in 2006 when the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.

[Scooter]

"...how important freedom of speech is for us in the Netherlands," ... has called for the Koran to be banned in the Netherlands.

Gee, no incongruity there.

[Big RR]

scooter--

[Scooter]

Now we know what his agenda really was:

Guy Who Staged Anti-Muslim Hate Rally Now Wants You To Give Him $10 Million ‘For Protection’

AUTHOR: JAMESON PARKER JUNE 1, 2015 8:11 AM

The organizer of an anti-Muslim hate rally in Phoenix, Arizona now says he needs patriots to donate $10 million to him so that his family can be safe from Muslims – even though none threatened him.

We all saw it coming, but 10 million?!

According to Jon Ritzheimer, he doesn’t fear for his own safety (because he’s a tough guy) but his family has been put in harm’s way by his actions, and therefore he humbly asks that Fox News watchin’, Muslim-hatin’ America lovers please give him $10 million so he can fortify his house. Given the price tag, this involves coating the entire thing with diamond-embedded gold – you know, to keep out the moslems.

But don’t worry, skeptics and cynics, he swears he needs it!

I know this seems like an absurd amount of money and I’d like to explain that. The money will go towards fortifying my house and getting what ever is necessary to make them feel safe again. I refuse to profit from this and any additional funds will go to Children’s Hospital. You have my word on that! And should I decide to run for John McCain’s seat in the Senate that is up for grabs this election, money will go towards starting my campaign as well. I would be running as an Independent Free Man who refuses to be labeled left or right.

There’s a lot to unpack here, but let’s try. First of all, you have to admire the moxie it takes to ask for $10 million then turn around and promise you A) won’t profit from it and B) will give any extra money to charity. What a saint this multimillionaire will be, selflessly giving anything beyond his 10 million free dollars to a generic “Children’s Hospital.”

Sillier still is Rizheimer’s plans to run against John McCain. Using what we could call the “Joe the Plumber” model of political campaigning, Ritzheimer is already passed Step One (“Make public ass of self”), and wants to combine Step Two (“Milk ill-gotten celebrity for all it’s worth.”) and Step Three (“Lose convincingly in an election.“). It’s unclear what his “Independent Free Man” platform would look like – he only compares it to the beliefs of George Washington, a man who presided over 13 states and died in 1799. Hard to say where Washington would stand on Net Neutrality.

Ritzheimer seems to be the latest in a growing number of conservatives who saw how much money an anti-gay pizza shop made by begging for money and took an opportunity to pull the same stunt. It’s not just that his GoFundMe campaign was a foregone conclusion, it was probably built into his anti-Muslim rally from the very start. In fact, even his interviews while at the rally were rife with mentions of how scared he was for his family and that he would “going into hiding” after it was over. (Note the irony of a group of men with assault rifles standing in front of women and children entering a mosque and claiming they are the ones who are being terrorized.)

This is what is called “laying the groundwork,” and Ritzheimer is sticking to his schedule. It’s only been a few days and lo and behold his fleecing has begun.

And like clockwork, supporters have come filing in to throw money at him. Several of the people who have donated even volunteered to help act as Ritzheimer’s personal buddy guards. One assured him, “I got your 6.” Another: “I will donate time on your security detail also! USMC brother!”

Further supporting the idea that Ritzheimer planned to become a millionaire from square one is the fact that his rally was, at least by his metric, an unmitigated disaster. There were no Muslim attacks. No rolling firefights in the streets between cartoonish Jihadis and equally cartoonish armed patriots dressed in camo. To the contrary, the Muslim community handled the situation with more grace and tact than these idiots, frankly, deserved.

Nobody threatened Ritzheimer or his family. In fact, when some of the guys Ritzheimer convinced to come actually met some of the Muslims, they wound up apologizing to them for being belligerent morons.

The Washington Post caught one such surreal exchange, writing:

Jason Leger, a Phoenix resident wearing one of the profanity-laced shirts, accepted an invitation to join the evening prayer inside the mosque, and said the experience changed him.

“It was something I’ve never seen before. I took my shoes off. I kneeled. I saw a bunch of peaceful people. We all got along,” Leger said. “They made me feel welcome, you know. I just think everybody’s points are getting misconstrued, saying things out of emotion, saying things they don’t believe.”

Paul Griffin, who had earlier said he didn’t care if his t-shirt was offensive, assured a small crowd of Muslims at the end of the rally that he wouldn’t wear it again.

“I promise, the next time you see me, I won’t be wearing this shirt,” he told one man while shaking his hand and smiling. “I won’t wear it again.”

Giving Ritzheimer $10 million won’t make him safer, because he isn’t under threat. It will only do one thing: Make a bigot rich, and don’t we have enough of those?

Update: GoFundMe took down Ritzheimer’s fund. I guess being known as the number one resource of right-wing bigots to bankroll their hatred isn’t what the crowd at GoFundMe had in mind when they made the site. The reaction on his Facebook page is alternating between frantic shouts of “Christian persecution” and suggestions to set up a “alternate” fund on the Christian-style GoFundMe clone called Samaritanspurse.org. Despite the outrage, GoFundMe has probably done these fans of Ritzheimer a great service by not allowing them to waste their money on his scheme – just don’t expect any “thank yous,” guys.

[Gob]

Lovely, could this be the new televangelism?