Two Killed in Texas After Firing on Anti-Muslim Group’s Event
By LIAM STACK
New York Times
MAY 3, 2015
Two gunmen were killed after they opened fire Sunday evening outside an event hosted by an anti-Muslim group in Garland, Tex., featuring cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, local officials said. According to the authorities, the two assailants shot a private security guard and were, in turn, shot and killed by police officers.
Officials did not give the identities of the gunmen or the security officer and did not assign a motive for the attack. The F.B.I. referred reporters’ questions to local officials.
The shooting began shortly before 7 p.m. outside the Curtis Culwell Center, where organizers were hosting the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest, an event run by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, an anti-Muslim organization based in New York.
The city of Garland confirmed the incident in a Facebook posting.
“As today’s Muhammad Art Exhibit event at the Curtis Culwell Center was coming to an end, two males drove up to the front of the building in a car. Both males were armed and began shooting at a Garland I.S.D. security officer.”
The Facebook posting said that the officer had been struck but that his “injuries are not life-threatening.”
“Garland police officers engaged the gunmen, who were both shot and killed,” the Facebook posting said.
The police, fearing that the gunmen’s car might contain an explosive device, sent a bomb squad to the scene and evacuated the events center and nearby businesses, including a Walmart.
The event included a contest for the best caricature of the Prophet Muhammad, with a $10,000 prize for the winning piece.
Drawings of the prophet are considered offensive in most interpretations of Islam. In January, gunmen in Paris attacked the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical newsmagazine known for printing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, killing 12 people.
A live video stream of the event on the organizer’s website recorded the moment when the crowd, mingling at the end of a series of speeches, was interrupted by a man in military fatigues, a rifle strapped to his chest, who bounded onto the stage to announce that there had been a shooting outside. The armed man appeared to have been a private security guard.
“A police officer has been shot, two suspects have been shot. They possibly have explosives on them, that’s what we’re worried about right now,” he said, as the crowd hushed.
“We are going to move you all into the auditorium here in just a minute. We just need everybody to remain calm and be kind of orderly. We are going to take you into the auditorium a little further away from the front of this building,” he added.
“Were the suspects Muslim?” a man called out from the crowd.
“I have no idea right now,” said the man in fatigues, as he turned and walked off the stage. The room burst into applause.
The venue is a 6,800-seat arena that is used by basketball teams in the Garland Independent School District. When the center is rented for private events, it requires organizers to hire private security. The Dallas Morning News reported that in the case of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, local authorities required the group to pay $10,000 for 40 extra security officers.
Pamela Geller, an outspoken anti-Islam activist and an organizer of the event, tweeted a similar version of the incident in the minutes after the shooting.
Earlier in the event, she finished a speech with an exhortation that audience members go to the gift shop before they left.
“Don’t forget,” she said. “Buy posters. Buy books. Our costs for security would fund a small nation.”
New York Times
MAY 3, 2015
Two gunmen were killed after they opened fire Sunday evening outside an event hosted by an anti-Muslim group in Garland, Tex., featuring cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, local officials said. According to the authorities, the two assailants shot a private security guard and were, in turn, shot and killed by police officers.
Officials did not give the identities of the gunmen or the security officer and did not assign a motive for the attack. The F.B.I. referred reporters’ questions to local officials.
The shooting began shortly before 7 p.m. outside the Curtis Culwell Center, where organizers were hosting the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest, an event run by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, an anti-Muslim organization based in New York.
The city of Garland confirmed the incident in a Facebook posting.
“As today’s Muhammad Art Exhibit event at the Curtis Culwell Center was coming to an end, two males drove up to the front of the building in a car. Both males were armed and began shooting at a Garland I.S.D. security officer.”
The Facebook posting said that the officer had been struck but that his “injuries are not life-threatening.”
“Garland police officers engaged the gunmen, who were both shot and killed,” the Facebook posting said.
The police, fearing that the gunmen’s car might contain an explosive device, sent a bomb squad to the scene and evacuated the events center and nearby businesses, including a Walmart.
The event included a contest for the best caricature of the Prophet Muhammad, with a $10,000 prize for the winning piece.
Drawings of the prophet are considered offensive in most interpretations of Islam. In January, gunmen in Paris attacked the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical newsmagazine known for printing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, killing 12 people.
A live video stream of the event on the organizer’s website recorded the moment when the crowd, mingling at the end of a series of speeches, was interrupted by a man in military fatigues, a rifle strapped to his chest, who bounded onto the stage to announce that there had been a shooting outside. The armed man appeared to have been a private security guard.
“A police officer has been shot, two suspects have been shot. They possibly have explosives on them, that’s what we’re worried about right now,” he said, as the crowd hushed.
“We are going to move you all into the auditorium here in just a minute. We just need everybody to remain calm and be kind of orderly. We are going to take you into the auditorium a little further away from the front of this building,” he added.
“Were the suspects Muslim?” a man called out from the crowd.
“I have no idea right now,” said the man in fatigues, as he turned and walked off the stage. The room burst into applause.
The venue is a 6,800-seat arena that is used by basketball teams in the Garland Independent School District. When the center is rented for private events, it requires organizers to hire private security. The Dallas Morning News reported that in the case of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, local authorities required the group to pay $10,000 for 40 extra security officers.
Pamela Geller, an outspoken anti-Islam activist and an organizer of the event, tweeted a similar version of the incident in the minutes after the shooting.
Earlier in the event, she finished a speech with an exhortation that audience members go to the gift shop before they left.
“Don’t forget,” she said. “Buy posters. Buy books. Our costs for security would fund a small nation.”
No comments:
Post a Comment