BBC United States of Hate Muslims Under Attack Page #5

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it allows us to actually want good for them,

it allows us to be able to go to them

and to try to win over their hearts.

They're not in a position where their minds can absorb anything.

They've been too blocked by the hate.

He may teach tolerance, but I want to know

if he thinks he can prevent extremism in his own community.

I make very well clear

that there are no young people in my community that hold those views.

I talk to them on a daily, on a nightly, basis,

outside of the mosque. If you see me here outside the mosque,

every single day, you will see me talking to people.

I make sure that if those views start to creep into our community,

we crush them right away.

So, I don't know what more I could except that -

and, of course, I counter,

use the online platform that God has blessed me with,

to counter that message - and I've been threatened for it,

and I have, you know, I...

I've been called multiple names for it, many names for it,

and I don't care. I'm going to keep doing it.

Not because of Bair, but because of God

and because of who I believe I should be, as a Muslim.

So, I have no problem assuming that responsibility,

I don't need anyone with a gun standing in front of my mosque

to tell me I need to do that. I'm already doing it.

I've been doing it before this group even existed.

- REPORTER:

- Just another day in the United States of America.

Another day of gunfire, panic and fear.

But the fact is, American Muslims have carried out attacks.

Like the one in San Bernardino,

when 14 people were murdered.

Omar believes that the people who commit these crimes

don't go to mosques or talk to imams like him.

He believes they're commonly radicalised online.

It's here on faceless forums and networks

that extremist views are aired.

It's on one such website I made contact with a Muslim

who is prepared to talk.

He's concerned for his safety,

so we have to meet on his terms and without knowing his real name...

..but we're only 15 minutes from Omar's mosque.

KNOCK AT DOOR:

DOOR OPENS:

Good. Can we sit down?

- Yes.

- OK.

So, do you want to tell us about how you feel?

Are you angry at America?

America's killed your friends.

Do you believe in jihad?

Is jihad the way forward?

Sharia law throughout America?

And that's what you believe?

How would the American Constitution fit into that?

It wouldn't fit in, would it?

This man lives lawfully in America, and denounces violence,

yet his vision for the future

is at odds with the Texans I've met so far.

THUNDER RUMBLES:

The next time I see David, he has his sights on a different target.

Bair are going after the Nation of Islam,

an African-American movement

that believes in both the Koran and the Bible

and are controversial for their links with black supremacy.

If you're after radical Islamists,

why are you going to the Nation of Islam?

Well, because the Nation of Islam is full of radical people

who are Islamic.

They... They have some different methods,

and the Nation of Islam is mostly African-American members.

They have some different ideology

compared to the Arab Muslims in North Dallas,

but when you get down to it,

it's all the same violent death cult, you know?

"If you're not one of us, you die."

So, that's why we're protesting Nation of Islam.

John is researching its current leader.

Louis Farrakhan has called, on multiple occasions,

for a 10,000-man Muslim army to start a race war.

'The Koran teaches persecution is WORSE than slaughter.

'Then it says, we MUST rise up...'

- 'Yeah!'

- '..and kill those who kill us.

'Stop them and kill them

'and let them feel the pain of death that we are feeling.'

And he's preaching straight out of the Koran.

And that's supposed to be the same book

that Richardson Mosque says promotes peace.

They are promoting violence.

But on the eve of the protest,

an online war of words breaks out between the two groups.

John is worried that someone is going to get hurt...

..so, he arranges a meeting with the police.

I'm told it's off-limits,

making me wonder what's really going on.

We're ready to roll.

It's the day of the protest, and all is quiet...

..with only the Nation of Islam members visible,

standing guard outside their mosque.

There's only one person on the premises that could speak

and I'm going to ask him, to go and see

if he would be willing to speak to you.

Hang tight, OK?

Outside the mosque, there's a tension in the air

and it's clear there are others here

who are not followers of the Nation of Islam,

but who are they?

Could you tell us about what's happening today,

- or what's happened so far?

- What's happening here today

is we're having threats of protests from, er...a group.

They're misguided.

I think they need a better education on who they're criticising

and who they're protesting against.

We're not the aggressors,

but we will fight with those that fight with us.

- Thank you very much.

- Thank you.

- All right.

If you turn around,

there's probably a lot of people you can get on camera.

- It'll be much more fun.

- There you go, look.

- There you go, right there.

Out of nowhere, came dozens of heavily-armed counterprotesters,

looking very well prepared for conflict.

If you're unarmed, if you do not have an arm...

Get that camera out of my face, man.

Back off, back off.

Get that camera out of my face, man.

These were not members of the Nation of Islam,

but allied militant black power groups

that feared an invasion of white supremacists.

Why have you come out today?

We're here to monitor and observe the activities of Bair.

That's primarily what our position is.

We heard that they threatened the South Dallas community.

We're here to stand in solidarity with the Nation of Islam

and recognise the brothers and sisters of the

Nation of Islam's God-given right

to practise religious freedom without getting impeded upon.

An hour passed and there was still no sign of Bair.

Eventually, word started to filter out -

they weren't coming.

The white supremacists said they was coming to our neighbourhood,

but they didn't show up.

You know why they didn't show up? Because we were here in solidarity.

They didn't come when they said they was going to come.

A few miles away and I find John back at Bair HQ,

but he doesn't look pleased.

What happened was, we were told by the Dallas Police Department

not to show up to a protest today,

which was the Nation of Islam -

and now it's being put out all over the website

that the counterprotesters are showing up

and still protesting, where we were told to stand down

and we're being called the ones that were the no-show.

I'm pissed.

I hate to take you on that ride,

but you're about to see a side of me you don't want to see.

- Why?

- Because I'm ready to go down there now, hunt them down

and beat the sh*t out of them.

They want to fight? I'll... I'm your huckleberry.

All right, we're getting ready to move out.

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