I would have thought, to be perfectly honest, that this story would have had legs.
I live in northern Orange County, CA (where I am part of the county Democratic Party's hierarchy, for which I do not speak.) A hugely shocking video was released last week showing protesters here spewing hate speech towards a religious minority group.
As one active in county politics here, I welcome more people seeing what we have to deal with. The people you will see in this video are likely not all from Orange County; Yorba Linda is pretty much the closest point to the hill and mountain passes that separate us from the Inland Empire of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, where you're not likely to see a "Real Housewives of" show set up camp anytime soon. But this is part of the political culture we activists face here, in a raw form you don't that often see broadcast.
If you haven't yet seen the video below, please do. It's an atrocity to remember.
I want to spread around some credit before I begin. Diarist crider first did an opinion piece on the events below; SuleymanF followed with some excellent reporting. (I'm not going to copy everything he had to say, but it's truly worth reading -- and has an action component to boot!) Three other diarists added their own commentary. And none of it made the Rec List. If you watch the video, you too will be wondering how that could be. This is some serious hate we had brewing out here.
The background: The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), a Muslim charity group with tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status, held its annual fundraiser the day before Valentine's Day for its Relief USA division, which provides such services as women's housing, disaster response and funeral and burial assistance. It is held at the Community Center in Yorba Linda, the "Land of Gracious Living" here in Orange County and site of the Nixon Library. (If you want to know what case was being made against the event, the stories linked above and immediately following are for you.)
The community response was somewhat less than gracious. In the days leading up to the fundraiser, community members became agitated and tried to shut it down. It turns out that you can't bar people from use of a public site because of their religion. (Who knew? Besides James Madison and those who have read his major work, that is.)
The city's attorneys have said the city cannot block the ICNA from using the building.
"We acknowledged their rights to be there," Rikel said.
Recreation Director Bill Calkins said the city regularly rents out parts of the Community Center to different religious organizations for their functions, and that the ICNA paid to hold a 300-person dinner on Sunday night. He would not say how much the group paid.
When the facility was reserved several weeks ago, "No, they didn't know this was a Muslim event," Calkins said. "But ... we work with all members of the community, no matter the race or religion."
As a precaution, there will be extra police patrols at the Community Center on Sunday.
Extra police was not a bad idea. There was a protest: from the looks of these photos, it was a good old-fashioned American protest. As a local website put it:
The protest was peaceful for the most part, but you could definitely tell how passionate many felt about the Muslim “charity event”. At one point a large group of people joined together near the entrance of the community center to voice their outrage.
And there the matter sat for a little over three weeks.
Then, last Wednesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations ("CAIR"), released the above video. The press release (which I presume I can republish in large measure) read:
“We support the First Amendment right of protesters anywhere in America to voice their concerns, dissent, and even hatred. However, when our nation’s foundational values of inclusiveness, pluralism and equality are attacked by some in favor of calls for advocating hate and violence, then all Americans have a responsibility to challenge and expose such bigotry and those who enable it.
“As the video shows, the rhetoric of the protesters became increasingly venomous toward the families and children who came to attend the ICNA Relief fundraising dinner. Protesters shouted invective statements such as “Go home terrorist,” “Muhammad is a pervert, Muhammad is a child molester,” “Go home and beat your wife, she needs a good beating” at the event-goers.
“Even more disturbing was the participation and encouragement of elected officials in promoting the hateful protest rally. Villa Park Councilwoman, Deborah Pauly, while addressing the crowd at the rally, appeared to threaten Muslim event-goers. Congressman Ed Royce (R-40), in a troubling trend of disparaging Islam and its followers, added fuel to the fire by encouraging protesters to continue on with their hate-mongering. The attendance of Congressman Gary Miller (R-42) was a clear surprise, since he previously has engaged with all constituents, including Muslims, toward a better America.
“We strongly urge all elected officials in attendance to distance themselves from such an exhibition of hate and bigotry. We further ask residents and elected officials of Yorba Linda, Orange County and other parts of our nation to speak out against such hateful rhetoric and the continued Islamophobia that plagues our nation.”
And, soon afterwards, that local website that had printed the rally photos without much comment -- a site that I've never heard of before and which I don't mention to slam them, but simply because the "before and after" of their reporting is revealing -- said this:
My wife went there and took some pictures. She left because of what you see in the video. She (as well as I) did not want to be associated with the hate filled yelling/screaming. She honestly felt scared to be there.
Do I agree with the way the protesters acted? NO! Their initial thought of protesting I can understand but there execution of “peaceful protest” failed miserably.
Do I believe the the speakers, Imam Siraj Wahhaj and Amir Abdel Malik Ali are linked to Islamic/Mulim Terrorist groups? Yes. The ICNA is linked to terrorist organizations. The group should NOT be allowed to hold a NON-PROFIT status nor be allowed to organize period. But that does not give Americans the right to be scream/yell/chant some all of the things they said.
My source for some of my views about the ICNA -> Pajamas Media
Yeah, "Pajamas Media." Well, so be it. That's what this guy reads, and reasonable people can debate whether these speakers -- brought in, incidentally, to speak on the role of charity in Islam -- were appropriate. You can click the link to get the
"charges" if you will. But there's a far cry between that -- and this.
City Councilwoman Deborah Pauly from nearby wealthy enclave of Villa Park, who in her speech had emitted the never-to-be-forgotten words "I don't even care if you think I'm crazy anymore," continued her audition for higher office, helpfully explaining that her comment that what was going on at the event was
“pure unadulterated evil” referred to two of the speakers at the event, not Muslims in general. She also said that the speakers justified a protest-invitation email from the North Orange County Conservative Coalition which condemned the fundraiser as a “pro-terrorism meeting.”
(You can see Rep. Ed Royce's explanation for his speech at the same link, if you wish.)
CAIR has weighed in again:
We urge everyone to remember that the hateful protesters only represent themselves and their hate groups. They do not represent Christians, Jews, Americans, or Republicans. They do not represent Yorba Linda or Orange County. No one community and religion should ever be blamed for the act of a few wrong ones. This is what the hateful protesters are doing and we should not stoop to their level. We can all be better than that.
"They do not represent ... Orange County," says the Los Angeles-based organization. Well, I hope not, and some of us are trying to make it less likely that they do. But that's what we're up against here. The current of hate runs strong -- and almost unnoticed, until someone shows up unexpectedly with a damning video.
The question for Orange County -- and for us all -- is what do we do when faced with the likes of this? I suspect that "ignore it and it will go away" is not the right answer.