Mike Stone/Reuters
Two men in a vehicle pulled up and opened fire at an anti-Islam event outside Dallas on Sunday, Texas police said. The men shot a security guard at Garland’s Curtis Culwell Center, where a right-wing group was hosting an event to draw the Prophet Muhammad. Both gunmen were killed and the security guard, Bruce Joiner, was treated and released from the hospital, police said. Joiner, 58, was shot in the ankle. The gunmen’s identities and motives are not yet known. The FBI confirmed it is on the scene providing investigation and technical assistance to a bomb squad following reports of an explosive device, which have not been confirmed.
The Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest was hosted by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, led by blogger and anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller. The event gave a $10,000 prize to Bosch Fawstin for his depiction of Muhammad, The Daily Beast’s Randy Potts reports. The event also featured Dutch politican Geert Wilders, whose Freedom Party campaigns against Muslim immigration.
The AFDI reportedly paid nearly $10,000 to bolster security with an additional 40 officers to work the event. Geller called the incident “the high cost of freedom.”