Zahid ArabProtesters, some carrying weapons, marched outside a mosque in Irving, Texas on Saturday calling for an end to “the Islamisation of America.”
A member of the Bureau of American Islamic Relations, David Wright, told the Dallas Morning News that he’d organised the march outside the Islamic Centre of Irving in response to the terror attacks in Paris.
Heavy presence by Irving PD, watching demonstration from Islamic Center’s parking lot pic.twitter.com/bWHU7Dba2e
— Zahid Arab (@ZahidArabFox4) November 21, 2015
Reportedly Wright and Bureau of American Islamic Relations, want to “block Syrian refugees from US shores, lest they replicate the attack here.”
Wright said:
We tried to talk to the mosque before we did this, but they wouldn’t return our messages, So here we are.
Videos show a dozen or so protesters marching outside the mosque, including one man clad in black and carrying an assault rifle. Others wore masks and carried American flags.
Armed Demonstration in front of the Islamic Center of Irving focused on stopping “Islamization of America” pic.twitter.com/iRQI4eqPjO
— Zahid Arab (@ZahidArabFox4) November 21, 2015
Wright reportedly claims the weapons were for “self-protection,” but cautioned “we do want to show force. We’re not sitting ducks.”
David Palmer, a member of the city council, was present at the protest and condemned the act.
He told The Dallas Morning News:
Does it look like there’s any threat here? Nobody’s even close to them, “I doubt that they’d be happy if some of the Muslim churchgoers here showed up at their Christian church, their Baptist church, their Methodist church tomorrow morning with rifles slung over their shoulders.
The town of Irving is already infamous after a 14-year-old Muslim student, Ahmed Mohamed, brought a homemade clock to school but was arrested on accusations of “constructing a bomb”.
Group says drivers have yelled at them even given them the middle finger but they still proudly support their stance pic.twitter.com/oRdKGZxPBW
— Zahid Arab (@ZahidArabFox4) November 21, 2015
The incidents come amid a growing distrust and fear of Syrians, in the US, after the November 13th Paris attacks, with many Republican politicians calling for restrictions or a ban on allowing Syrians into the country.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.