Tennessee: Americans Defending Their Constitutional Rights Against Muslim Anti-Free Speech Posted by Laura J Alcorn National Director on June 5, 2013 at 4:30pmSend Message View Blog TENNESSEE: Muslim group’s anti-free speech forum drowned out by out... by BareNakedIslam barenakedislam/2013/06/05/tennessee-muslim-groups-an... TENNESSEE: Muslim group’s anti-free speech forum drowned out by outraged Americans in defense of their most important Constitutional right U.S. Attorney Bill Killian was shouted down by patriotic Americans as he tried to address the crowd Tuesday, June 4, 2013, at an event billed as a discussion of public discourse in a diverse society with a focus on the Muslim faith when, in fact, it was a subversive anti-First Amendment move by the pro-Islamist Obama Regime to make any online criticism of Islam a federal crime. Pamela Geller fired up the crowd before the forum began. See her coverage here: exposing-doj-propaganda-to-criminalize-speech-offensive-to-muslims.... Tennessean Hundreds of people (actually about 2,000) turned out at the Manchester Convention Center Tuesday evening for an event billed as a discussion of public discourse in a diverse society, with a particular focus on the Muslim religion. People were turned away at the door because the facility was too full. Some grew angry and started hurling terms such as “communist,” “socialist” and “Muslim” at law enforcement officials. The indoor event, sponsored by the American Muslim Advisory Council, was countered by a large group of protesters (led by Pamela Geller), both outside and inside the facility. Some who made it in before admission was cut off continuously interrupted the speakers. The interruptions were so intense at times that attendee Elaine Smith, 55, of Bedford County, said she was afraid of other audience members.(Excellent!) “I came here because I wanted to learn something … but I couldn’t hear because the audience was so disrespectful,” she said. “I cried when I got here. It makes me really sad especially because these people say they’re Christians. The God I worship doesn’t teach hate.” (But the God of Muslims does, you stupid b****) During the keynote speech given by Bill Killian, U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Tennessee, audience members continually interrupted, making it difficult to understand what was said. Killian brought a PowerPoint presentation that covered the First and 14th amendments and what constitutes a hate crime, among other things. He read the First Amendment verbatim, between interruptions. Kenneth Moore, FBI special agent in charge of the Eastern Tennessee District, took the podium after Killian.“Our presence here tonight has generated some controversy,” he said. “People think we want to step on and stifle their First Amendment rights. Nothing could be further from the truth.” Moore said the FBI was continually working to build relationships with worshippers of Islam and other faiths because “they are essential” to keeping the country safe. (Yes, safe for an Islamic Caliphate take over) Protester Larry McIntosh, 54, of Manchester, said he was skeptical of Killian and Moore. “I feel like (these) men are attempting to intimidate people with the freedom of speech and that bothers me,” he said. “I would like to say that Muslims have a right to live here and worship freely, but I do not think they have the right to change American law to fit Sharia law. Violence no matter where it comes from bothers me.” Former “Saturday Night Live” star Victoria Jackson was among the protesters. “The Constitution and Sharia cannot coexist,” she said. “Islam is evil.” Event organizers said they chose Manchester and Coffee County because of a Facebook post made by Coffee County Commissioner Barry West last month that said Muslims were best greeted behind a shotgun barrel. West later apologized for the post, but it has since ignited a First Amendment debate. Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center, a nonprofit educational initiative with offices on Vanderbilt campus and in Washington, said the First Amendment does not restrict the right of a public official to express opinions. “Are public officials held to a higher standard than you or I? I think yes, but it’s not a limitation,” he said. “There’s nothing in the First Amendment banning anyone to say things that people find repellant, distasteful, repugnant or even bigoted. The antidote that our founders provided for speech is more speech, not less.” RELATED STORIES/VIDEOS: A personal message from James Lafferty to me: President, Virginia Anti-Sharia Task Force The rally at the Coffee County Conference Center had between 1,500 and 2,000 angry people from all over Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi and one high-energy advocate from New York – Pamela Geller. I got there in the early afternoon and met with a group of local leaders and several legislators to talk strategy plus (as is always the case) politics. Usually, at these sorts of events, the police outnumber the people. Not so in Tennessee, there were people of all races and religions and they were very angry that a special meeting was being conducted to talk about the Department of Justice’s commitment to protect the rights of one religious group—Islam. A Tennessee politician posted a pretty stupid gag on Facebook which is being used as the pushing off point for Justice to scrutinize every statement about Islam on the internet. Bill Killian, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, spoke to the audience in a very condescending and provocative way. The speaker from the FBI started his speech simply by saying “Eric Holder” and, predictably, every one of the 800 people inside the hearing booed. Every mention of Holder had the same effect. Killian’s remarks dealt with hate crimes against Muslims and nothing else. His speech and the tenor of the evening from the speakers platform was that “Muslims are misunderstood and they are no different than you or me.” Any criticism of Islam was presented as hate-mongering and bigotry. Clearly, the message of the evening was very Shariah-compliant. As I said in my remarks, “the Justice Department tells us they are concerned about threats to the religious freedom of Islam but when you ask them about Christians and Jews they say ‘not so much’.” The biggest story of the event was the crowd. It was very animated. When the Muslim speakers talked about Islam as a peaceful religion which valued good citizenship – several people interrupted with the word “taquiya.” I talked with many of the people who had driven hours to get to the rally – a farmer and his son, an orthodox Jewish family, World War II veterans and many more. They all said the same thing – the Justice Department is trying to curtail free speech by promising increased scrutiny of any internet posts which mention Islam. One tactic used at the rally was provocation. I had a young man harangue me for about 40 minutes that I was not who I said I was and referring to me as “Mr. Killian” all in a very loud voice to attract the attention of others. He also had someone taking photos of me the whole time. I asked his name and who he represented but he said nothing. Both Pamela Geller and the incomparable Robert Spencer spoke brilliantly about free speech and the threat posed to it by government suppression. The footage of angry people confronting corrupted politicians and government officials had a double-edged effect – it probably gave second thoughts to those poiliticians who are ready to fall into lock-step with the DOJ but it also gave the stereotypical “angry mob” scenario for the hostile media (which is to say most of it.) I was glad I had the opportunity to see the push-back from the people of Tennessee. America needs to push back within the law and it needs to start immediately.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 19:34:14 +0000
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