Video shows children from Islamic schools being heckled at Kentucky Capitol
Children from Islamic schools in Kentucky were heckled by three men outside the Kentucky Capitol Wednesday as they boarded a bus after attending the inaugural Kentucky Muslim Day at the Capitol.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, located in Washington D.C., posted a video on Facebook that shows an unidentified man yelling at the children through a microphone, telling them “you must repent of your sins and come to Jesus Christ or you will go to hell.” Another man held a sign that said “Muhammad is a ... liar, false prophet, murderer, child molesting pervert (see history for details).” A third man carried a sign that said “Jesus saves from hell.”
The incident occurred between the Capitol and Capitol Annex.
A person not seen on the video chastised the three men for “harassing little kids” and booed them.
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for CAIR, identified the man talking to the three as Robert McCaw, CAIR’s director of national government affairs.
“I was trying to detract the children from the unacceptable actions of those men,” McCaw said in a telephone interview.
“They were yelling. I didn’t know them but they identify themselves as street preachers. I believe in free speech but what they were saying was shameful, deplorable,” said McCaw, who filmed the video.
The children were from “a couple of different schools in Kentucky,” he said, declining to identify the schools for security reasons. Information earlier this week from Kentucky’s chapter of CAIR said the day at the Capitol primarily would be for middle school students from Lexington and Louisivlle.
“These children were at the Capitol to get a lesson in civics and acceptance,” said McCaw. “I’m afraid they got more than that.”
Hooper said “some Islamophobes and extremists” were expected to show up at Muslim Day at the Capitol.
“We got some online chatter but we thought they were going to throw pork rinds at the participants,” he said. “This is what often happens when Muslims try to participate in our government — a minority of hotheads try to interfere but Kentucky can expect a Muslim Day at the Capitol every year.”
The Kentucky chapter of CAIR sponsored the advocacy day at the Capitol, which attracted about 175 people. It asked participants to discuss with legislators such issues as school bullying, health care, voting rights and minimum wage.
At a morning ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda hosted by CAIR-KY board member Jamil Farooqui, a Lexington internist, McCaw warned the participants to “not engage” with anyone who might criticize them.
Several lawmakers talked to the participants. They included House Minority Caucus Chair Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, Rep. Josie Raymond, D-Louisville, and Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear denounced the heckling of the students.
“All of our school children should be able to visit their Capitol without being shouted at or intimidated,” Beshear said in an email. “These actions do not reflect our Kentucky values, and shame on any adult who would shout at a child.”
Rep. David Hale, R-Wellington in Menifee County, said in a floor speech that the actions by the three men were “hurtful, harmful.”
Hale, a retired Church of God minister, said their behavior upset him as a Christian and a father.
“We had a few individuals spewing some very, very derogatory comments to adults and children,” said Hale. “The God I serve is not a God of hate. He is a God of love.”
House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, told reporters that the actions of the three unidentified men were “inappropriate” and “deeply offensive.”
This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 3:03 PM.
