In a display of anti-Islam fever, a group of nearly 200 had a protest in front of the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix mosque in Phoenix, Arizona. The group was led by former U.S. Marine soldier Jon Ritzheimer. While the protest did not result in injuries or deaths, the image of numbers of individuals armed with weapons in front of a house of worship is a disgrace to America’s commitment to our Constitutional rights and our Universal Human Rights.
The media debate about the protest largely was centered on Mr. Ritzheimer and his supporter’s views on Islam. But that is not the real issue in this debate. The unanswered question is his view and his supporters’ views on the Constitution of the United States and our shared universal human rights. Our Constitution’s Bill of Rights protects our freedom of religion (under the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment); the same Constitution which Mr. Ritzheimer made a solemn vow to support and defend. America also is committed to freedom of religion under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 18, signed by the United States on December 10, 1948, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Part III, Article 18, signed by the United States on October 5, 1977, and ratified on June 8, 1992.
In the United States of America, and in international law, freedom of religion is not simply a “good idea.”
Freedom of religion is THE LAW.
Freedom of speech and protest is also THE LAW.
But freedom of speech and protest, while holding an automatic weapon, is no longer “public protest.” It is nothing less than cowardly, despicable threats, which are a disgrace to all Americans, our Constitution, and our universal human rights.
Phoenix, Arizona Protests in front of Islamic Community Center on May 29, 2015 – with Cowards Holding Automatic Weapons (Source: Twitter)
According to the reports, this protest was the result of a terrorist attack on a Texas school earlier in May, during a “Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest,” designed to insult Muslims. As CNN reported, “The Islamic Community Center of Phoenix is the mosque that Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi attended for a time. They’re the men who drove from Arizona to a Dallas suburb to shoot up a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest there. Both were killed by police early this month.” But the rest of the story is that Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi shot at a security guard in an attempted terrorist attack there. That is the violence we have seen from other pro-violent jihad extremists. Those criminals paid the price for their criminal violence with their lives. This does not discount that there may be other extremists supporting Simpson and Soofi; there must continue to be a human rights call to challenge extremists, and even terrorists in every area of this nation. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) reported on and condemned the terrorist acts by Simpson and Soofi in Garland, Texas, and we defended the right to unpopular, contemptible speech by those they attacked. But there is a difference between respecting the freedom of such unpopular speech, and those extremists who take automatic weapons to protest in hate in front of a house of worship.
The idea that over 100 individuals believe that it is acceptable in the United States of America to hold an “armed” protest outside of a house of worship is an insult to the Constitution, and a slur against the laws of this nation and our shared human rights.
If this were any other nation, the images of armed individuals protesting outside of any house of worship would bring the voices of outrage and disgust from human rights activists, the United Nations, and those committed to religious freedom. So it must be, of course, with the United States as well. The number of “armed individuals” appear to be a small minority of the total protesters. Does this matter? If 100 protested outside of a Pakistan Christian church, a European Jewish synagogue, or any other house of worship anywhere in the world, but only a “small minority” of the protesters held machine guns, would this still not be a source for human rights outrage? Of course, it would, and it must, in the United States of America as well.
Furthermore, the vicious language of some of the protesters show their contempt towards the United States’ Constitution and our commitment to universal human rights of freedom of religion. The protest organizer’s call for protesters to bring guns to the event – “[p]eople are also encouraged to utilize there second amendment right at this event” – is an embarrassment to all patriotic Americans who respect our Constitution and our shared freedoms. We were lucky that no one got injured or killed – THIS time. But the failure to be consistent in our support for Constitution and our human rights remains an issue where we must continue to make change.
An Arizona Muslim activist also reported that the Arizona protest supporters included extremists advising participants to bring ammunition “coated in pig blood and fat.” R.E.A.L. has confirmed this with our own investigation as well. This path to hate, depravity, and violence can be reversed. It begins with a consistent support by all Americans for the truths that we hold self-evident, our commitment to our shared human rights, shared human dignity, and in America, our support for the Constitution.
It begins by being Responsible for Equality And Liberty – everywhere, for all of our fellow Americans, and for all of our brothers and sisters in humanity.