Around 250 anti-Muslim protesters gathered in front of a mosque in Phoenix on Friday night. The Washington Post reports that many of them were armed and wearing T-shirts bearing anti-Muslim messages and profanities. The protest was organized by John Ritzheimer, an Iraq War veteran who said he wants more events like his in other states. “I want fellow patriots standing right here next to me,” Ritzheimer said. “This isn’t about me. Everybody’s been thinking it, I’m just saying it.” A “roughly equally sized” group defending Islam also gathered in front of the mosque. “This is not new. Hatred, bigotry, racism—that’s old. It’s the same thing,” Usama Shami, president of the Islam center, said. “No different from Nazi or neo-Nazis. They don’t believe society should be multicultural or multiethnic. They think everyone should believe like them, I guess.”
CHEAT SHEET
TOP 10 RIGHT NOW
- 1
- 2
- 4
- 5
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10