This has to be one of the sickest stories I’ve covered in a long time, and it’s clearly a result of of the anti-Muslim hate rhetoric that’s coming from Republican extremists, GOP lawmakers, religious xenophobics, and racist presidential candidates like Donald Trump.
Dennis Murdy, who lives on Bloomington Road in East Peoria, Illinois, has a cutout on his front lawn that shows the silhouette of a hunter pointing a shotgun at a surrendering person wearing a turban. Murdy says his growing frustration toward the Muslim community prompted him to take action. He says dozens of people have stopped by to take photos and no one has complained. NBC News spoke with Murdy who said:
"The Muslims and Islam [is] one of the most violent cults there is. It is not a religion. It's a cult. Their Qur'an says nothing but violence. You can see what Isis is doing. They are spreading across the country and this is biblical," Dennis Murdy commented.
Murdy says not all Muslims are violent, but “blames the peaceful ones for not stopping it.” As with Donald Trump who has called for a ban on Muslims entering the country, Murdy also thinks Muslims should not be welcomed into United States. The local Muslim community is reportedly and justifiably terrified of the message this open display is sending. Imam Kamil Mufti with the Islamic Foundation of Peoria commented:
"Free speech should not be mixed with hate speech. It's extremely important and we have to draw that line. If Islamophobia is going to be acceptable, by the same token, anti-semitism and racism would be acceptable. That is wrong."
NBC says neighbors are “split “on the controversial cutouts. (This is how America is emerging.) Others were happy to see hate speech expressed freely. Those against the cutouts would not go on camera. Perhaps out of fear?
Here is the NBC News video:
Dennis Murdy said he doesn't plan to take the signs down anytime soon. He’s on Facebook in case anyone would like to share their civil thoughts with him. You cannot comment but you can send him a message.
Update: Since publishing this article, not only can you not comment on Murdy’s page, it can no longer be found. It’s unknown whether Facebook took it down due to its hateful content (they have been cracking down), or whether Murdy took it down/changed the settings. Either way it’s good one less example of racism/xenophobia is off air — for now anyway.