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GARLAND, Texas — Two suspects were killed after they opened fire Sunday in a parking lot outside a provocative contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, authorities said.
Garland's city government issued a statement saying that as a Muhammad Art Exhibit event was coming to a close at the Curtis Culwell Center, "two males drove up to the front of the building in a car'' and started shooting at a security officer.
"Garland police officers engaged the gunmen, who were both shot and killed,'' the statement posted online said.
.....
A group called the American Freedom Defense Initiative hosted the Muhammad Cartoon Exhibit and $10,000 cartoon contest.
The arena, owned by the Garland school district, hosted a "Stand With the Prophet" event in January,.
The cartoon exhibit featured "images of Islam's prophet, both historic and contemporary, and speeches by leading voices of freedom and internationally renowned free speech advocates," according to a press release by the group.
Such drawings are deemed insulting to many followers of Islam and have sparked violence around the world. According to mainstream Islamic tradition, any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad — even a respectful one — is considered blasphemous.
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Pamela Geller, president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, said that she planned the Sunday event to make a stand for free speech in response to the outcries and violence over drawings of Muhammad, NBC News reported. Geller's group is known for mounting a campaign against the building of an Islamic center blocks from the World Trade Center site and for buying advertising space in cities across the U.S. criticizing Islam.
"This is a war,'' she posted on her website PamellaGeller.com. "This is war on free speech. What are we going to do? Are we going to surrender to these monsters?''
Dutch politician Geert Wilders, known for advocating a ban on the Kuran, was a keynote speaker at the event.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...tside-muhammad-art-exhibit-in-texas/26849897/
Garland's city government issued a statement saying that as a Muhammad Art Exhibit event was coming to a close at the Curtis Culwell Center, "two males drove up to the front of the building in a car'' and started shooting at a security officer.
"Garland police officers engaged the gunmen, who were both shot and killed,'' the statement posted online said.
.....
A group called the American Freedom Defense Initiative hosted the Muhammad Cartoon Exhibit and $10,000 cartoon contest.
The arena, owned by the Garland school district, hosted a "Stand With the Prophet" event in January,.
The cartoon exhibit featured "images of Islam's prophet, both historic and contemporary, and speeches by leading voices of freedom and internationally renowned free speech advocates," according to a press release by the group.
Such drawings are deemed insulting to many followers of Islam and have sparked violence around the world. According to mainstream Islamic tradition, any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad — even a respectful one — is considered blasphemous.
....
Pamela Geller, president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, said that she planned the Sunday event to make a stand for free speech in response to the outcries and violence over drawings of Muhammad, NBC News reported. Geller's group is known for mounting a campaign against the building of an Islamic center blocks from the World Trade Center site and for buying advertising space in cities across the U.S. criticizing Islam.
"This is a war,'' she posted on her website PamellaGeller.com. "This is war on free speech. What are we going to do? Are we going to surrender to these monsters?''
Dutch politician Geert Wilders, known for advocating a ban on the Kuran, was a keynote speaker at the event.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...tside-muhammad-art-exhibit-in-texas/26849897/
