WASHINGTON — A group’s plans to burn a Quran outside the White House were foiled Saturday.
Saying that they were there to block the spread of “bigotry” and “lies,” counter-protesters held up sheets to obscure the original group from view. They also yelled to drown out their chants.
“I guess you can call them Islamophobes,” said John Zangas, a Marine who was one of the counter-protesters.
Ed Spiker, who was part of the original group of protesters, characterized his group as a bunch of frustrated Americans. “We’re just people who are a little fed up with the lack of effort from our government to fight radical Islam,” Spiker said.
Despite the counter protests, it’s unclear, whether the group that staged the initial protest intended to go through with the act of burning the Quran, which is the Muslim holy book.
“Due to federal law we can’t do that here,” said Spiker. “So it was just more of metaphorical roast and to just bring awareness of the radical ideology within the Quran.”
Initial reports were that someone had stolen the copy that the group intended to burn.
Jordan Denari, who is Catholic, was part of the counter-protest. “I do work to educate the public about Islamphobia,” she said. “So, I figured it would be important to be here.”
