A planned anti-Islam rally in Amarillo resulted in a counter-rally spreading the message of tolerance. A protest was scheduled to take place Oct. 10 at the Khursheed Unissa Memorial Community Center in Amarillo on Soncy Road. The anti-Islam event was part of a 15-city rally called the “Global Rally for Humanity.” Dr. Ali Jaffar, an Amarillo cardiologist who built the Muslim community center, told the Amarillo Globe-News he was not concerned about the protests as long as no one trespassed or hurt anyone; however, many other citizens were upset when they heard about the scheduled rally. More than 100 locals showed up to protest the protest. People from many religions were present to take a stand against the anti-Muslim sentiments. The crowd included people with different religious beliefs, such as atheists, Catholics, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Presbyterians and Unitarian Universalists. The counter-protest ended up being “a huge victory for love and tolerance in our community,” said Grant Reyher, founder of Amarillo Atheists, who attended the event. The only person to show up in support of the anti-Muslim rally was a 56-year-old man named William Teague, who is is no stranger to this type of controversy. According to KVII-TV, in 2009, his house, where he says he “proudly” flies Confederate flags, was shot at least nine times, causing damage to his vehicles and home. In an online post before the Oct. 10 rally, Teague shared a graphic video of Buddhists being executed by Muslims along with anti-Muslim comments. The post and the page supporting the Amarillo rally have been removed. The creator of the Facebook event’s personal Facebook page also was removed, and he did not show up at the rally. “News of this spread fast, and local groups in support of love and tolerance in Amarillo sprung to action,” Reyher said. “One such group, the Amarillo Atheists, had 50 members at the counter-protest rally.” He also said Amarillo Atheists “stands for the separation of church and state, tolerance towards atheists, agnostics, freethinkers and secular humanists and community outreach in Amarillo.” Reyher said he was pleased with the success of the counter-protest. “We stood in unison to let the citizens of Amarillo know that bigotry, racism, hatred and intolerance have no place here,” he said. “Love, not hate, wins every time.” Organizers promoted the counter-rally primarily on Facebook, though many people were not aware of it. “I didn’t even know about the rally before it happened,” said Dawn Jackson, an Amarillo College accounting major. “I am, however, glad to see Amarillo stand together in such a great way. “Hopefully soon, these hate rallies won’t even be organized.”
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