A Phoenix man is holding a protest outside a mosque in the Valley on Friday afternoon that will include a cartoon drawing contest of the Prophet Muhammad.
Organizers are calling it a “freedom of speech” rally, but the Muslim community said it will only stoke anti-Islamic sentiment.
Jon Ritzheimer said the recent shootings in Texas by two Muslim men from Phoenix led him to call for the protest, which will take place outside the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix. The two gunmen had attended that mosque, but stopped attending leading up to the attack.
A veteran, Ritzheimer expects bikers and militia to come, but the rally will be peaceful, he said. He called Islam “a death cult.”
He said he appreciates that leaders from the mosque have condemned the Texas shootings and ISIS.
“But we still have Hezbollah. We still have Hamas. We still have these other terrorist organizations. I’m ultimately hoping for them to come out and condemn all of them as an American Muslim group that can show they can live and be in peace with us,” said Ritzheimer.
“They need to step up and be outspoken against these terrorist organizations, and they’re not," he said.
Ritzheimer said drawing cartoons of the prophet is “stupid,” but is a matter of free speech.
Usama Shami, president of the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix, said the purpose of this event is simply to incite violence and intimidate the Muslim community.
“This is just cheap propaganda. So I wish for people to see them for what they are: they’re bigots and they’re racists,” said Shami.
He said he does not buy the premise of the event or understand what Ritzheimer would have them do about extremism.
“So the question is drawing the prophet of Muhammad. How does it serve that purpose?” said Shami. “It doesn’t have any positive impact on the community or in the society.”
Shami said this group has held a similar event before. The community plans to ignore it and go ahead with their Friday prayers.
According to Ritzheimer, the last protest attracted more than 200 people. Meanwhile, a group calling itself “Wave of Action PHX” has posted on Facebook encouraging people to come out to counter protest.
The Phoenix Police Department said it will have a presence at the event and “have been in contact with representatives from the mosque and known event organizers,“ but did not provide any further details.
