After memorial, dueling demonstrations begin near Ground Zero
After memorial, dueling demonstrations begin near Ground Zero
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Rival demonstrations over the Islamic center were kept apart by a phalanx of cops though there were flare-ups between the groups even as relatives of 9/11 victims mourned just a few blocks away.
"I don't care if they build a mosque, but I don't want to hear their Islamic prayers wafting over the [Ground Zero] grave site ... I saw the carnage of 9/11," fumed a retired firefighter who waved his middle finger at those who supported the mosque, which would sit two blocks north of the World Trade Center site.
Outnumbered
The estimated 3,000 pro-mosque demonstrators outnumbered the mosque opponents by about 500.u00a0The march stretched three blocks, followed by a heavy contingent of police.
Beating drums and ringing bells, the crowd chanted, "Bigots go home."
The demonstrators also carried signs reading, "Tea party bigots funded by corporate $," and, "Our grief is no excuse for bigotry and racism."
A few blocks away, the mosque protesters were in full fury.
"Did New York deserve this? Did America deserve this? Did the West deserve this?" asked Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician and keynote speaker.
Going bad to worse
"No!" protesters roared back.u00a0 But things got ugly when a group of students taunted the demonstrators.
Natalie Sowinski, 19 watching the anti-mosque rally with pals Andressa Leite, and Dennis Grabowski, was wearing a scarf wrapped around her head like a hijab.
Leite, meanwhile, blew on a vuvuzela, similar to the horns heard at the World Cup.
Demonstrators ripped the scarf off Sowinski's head and screamed, "Did you lose someone on 9/11?"
"There was a moment when I got scared for my life,"Sowinski said.u00a0 Cops finally separated the sides allegedly just as one man was ready to clock one of the students.
The NYPD said it made no arrests.
In a bizarre and potentially volatile display, a lone man walked up to the intersection of Murray and Church streets and started tearing a Quran, burning a few of the pages.
The man said nothing as he was escorted to safety by the police. He later said his demonstration was about freedom of speech.
"People have the right to build that mosque," the bizarrely calm man said, refusing to identify himself.
"They own that property. I wanted to show that I have the right to free speech. Rights are a two-way street."
Some of the would-be protesters mistakenly fell for stereotypes.
On Church Street, Kamal Ramdas, a dark-skinned Muslim born in Guyana and now living in Queens, drew jeers and catcalls for his clothing: an all-white long robe and white skull cap.
Protests turn deadly
Two protesters were killed and four others were injured by the Afghan army yesterday as it broke up a crowd demonstrating over now-cancelled plans by the pastor of a small US church to hold a Quran burning.
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