Plans to develop a mosque and Islamic cemetery in Newton County, Georgia, stalled when a self-proclaimed armed militia released a video threatening violence.
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Newton County may have canceled a meeting about lifting a moratorium blocking a proposed mosque, but members of a local militia still carried out their protest outside the county courthouse in Covington.
Newton County manager Lloyd Kerr said the meeting was canceled after video of a militia group “exhibiting harassing or violent behavior” in a neighboring county circulated on social media. Above, a protest of the mosque.
The five-week moratorium is set to expire September 20, and Kerr said that commissioners still intend to honor that expiration date.
“Let me be the first to tell you if you can not see things for how they truly are”.
The protest consisted of rhetoric against Islam, Muslims and the group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) being shouted through a bullhorn by a man calling himself Johnny Infidel, armed with an AR-15 rifle. “The council did not cave over fear of GSF III% showing up to a meeting tonight”, Chris Hill says in the video.
The militia came out despite the meeting being canceled because members said they’re anxious the county was going to allow the proposed mosque to go through.
According to the Facebook page, the group has chapters across the country.
She added: “Unfortunately, in today’s society, uncivil threats or intentions must be taken seriously”. “Any citizen has the right to assemble peacefully and exercise their right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment”.
One of the people to speak up for the mosque during one of the town hall meetings was Newton County resident Kendra Miller. “If we can do that, then a county commission surrounded by law enforcement officers should be able to do the same thing”, executive director Edward Ahmed Mitchell told NBC News.
“That sends a risky message about the power of fringe extremists to affect elected officials”.
Town official canceled the meeting because of safety concerns.
Hundreds of residents showed up to a townhall Monday night to debate the proposed mosque and cemetery. In the video, Hill referred to the future site of a mosque and cemetery as a possible training compound for terrorism.
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“I’m sure there are a lot of peaceful Muslims and a lot of loving Muslims but a lot of them aren’t”.
