The same group of armed individuals that surrounded a mosque in Irving, Texas last month, is at it again. This time in Richardson, Texas.
This group of armed individuals refers to themselves as the Bureau of American Islamic Relations (BAIR). Their spokesman, David Wright, claimed that BAIR surrounded the Irving mosque to protest the Syrian refugees coming to the United States. They also want to stand against, what Wright calls, the “Islamization of America.”
BAIR has made it their mission to rally together against Muslim organizations, such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). Given their mission statement, it comes as no surprise that BAIR called for protesting the Richardson mosque on the afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 12. BAIR falsely accused the mosque of funding terrorists.
BAIR should be very familiar to those who follow gun rights groups, they just have a different name. BAIR’s membership, after all, is made up of Three-Percenters.
For those of you who do not know, the Three Percenters are a group proclaiming themselves as true patriots, forming ‘militias’ similar to the alleged 3 percent of colonists who took up arms against the British during the American Revolution. The Three Percenters are known for protesting “gun control efforts nationwide, patroll[ing] the U.S. border with Mexico” and now they are after Muslim groups they suspect have terrorist ties.
Three Percenters warn to “[n]ever underestimate the power of a small group of committed citizens to change the world.” The Three Percenters in BAIR did not heed this advice.
In response to the Irving protest, there have been a variety of national and local organizations committed in taking a stand against BAIR and other anti-Muslim organizations. While some held a large, peaceful march in Dallas on Saturday, Dec. 12, around 50 individuals showed up at the Richardson mosque to counter-protest the 20 BAIR members in attendance.
During the protest, Wright had a heated debate with members of the mosque, arguing over Wright’s terrorism allegations and his view on Syrian refugees.
In response to the counter-protesters and the news organizations in attendance, Wright commented,
“Nobody was listening to me two or three weeks ago — not one person…now look how many people are now listening to me.”
People are listening. Not only are they listening, but they are making attempts to stand up to this hateful group.
During the peaceful march in Dallas on Saturday, Pastor Eric Folkerth of Northhaven United Methodist Church, stated,
“Guns and violence will not make us safer. The way of hope is the way of non-violence…We reject the discrimination against our Muslim brothers and sisters, we reject racial profiling by anyone, and we stand together and say we are better united”
Wright and his organization will not stop. They will continue to use their guns in a threatening manner in their attempt to rid Muslims from the United States. BAIR already has posted information about their next protest:
Though BAIR members likely feel like they are a small group that can affect change, their ideology is filled with hate and idiocy. The organization should just stick to the gun rights goals of the Three Percenters. Instead, they face committed citizens with a mission for religious tolerance for all Americans.
For more of Pastor Folkerth’s speech from Saturday’s peaceful march in Dallas, watch the video below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSRu97zChAQ&w=560&h=315]
Feature image from Facebook.
