The Help Is Mutual

The woman said that “these kinds of precautions are made routinely. The arrangements are planned a lot. But usually they are not necessary. I can’t tell you, of course, where they were deployed in relation to the mosque. Only that they were available. Once you have officers in place, it is easier to coordinate an additional response. Since 9/11, the cooperation between agencies has become much better. We help each other. If Santa Monica, say, or Beverly Hills or Inglewood is going to have an event like last Sunday and anticipates possible trouble, we will get a call. They will ask how many people we will have available. Then we plan for that number on the day in question. We help each other.”

Another Version

A relatively new and small group known as the United American Committee staged the rally at the mosque, which it called “radicalized,” to protest Muslim terrorism and to honor the American victims of the 9/11 terror. A mock hanging in effigy of Osama bin Laden from a gallows at the rear of a pickup truck was intended to be the rally’s highlight. On its website, the group celebrated the demonstration as a clear-cut victory. The Committee’s report concluded with the following: “Counter-protestors, who seemed to take the side of Osama, stood on the other side of the street chanting slogans such as ‘U.A.C. Racist Slime, Being Muslim Is Not a Crime.’ The U.A.C. responded with chants such as ‘We Love Muslims,’ ‘We Love Muslims,’ and ‘Join with Us,’ ‘Join with Us.’ We were sending a positive message that Muslims are more than welcome to come and join the U.A.C. in throwing shoes at Osama and condemning Islamic militancy. The U.A.C. was happy to be joined by pro-democratic Iranians as well as many other groups and individuals of all different backgrounds. However, as for the King Fahad Mosque and its members, the allegiance of those who would protest a hanging of bin Laden remains in question.”