"City: 2 gunmen killed outside Muhammad cartoon contest," AP
5/3/15, "Livestream: AFDI/JihadWatch Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest," Pamela Geller
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| Pamela Geller |
“It does speak to the world at large that we have to have this intense security around this art exhibit,” organizer Pamela Geller said in February. “That’s all it is … an art exhibit and a cartoon contest.”...
AFDI organizers booked the event after a pro-Islamic event used the center in January 2015 and say they're simply exercising their right of expression."...
4/27/15, "Islam debate returns to Garland ISD’s Culwell Center with Muhammad art event," Dallas Morning News, by Ray Leszcynski
Above image of Pamela Geller from PamelaGeller.com
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Per AP: "It remained unclear several hours after the shooting whether it was related to event."
5/3/15, "Shots Fired at Mohammed Art Contest: Officer Down, Two Suspects Dead, Reports Claims Explosives in Area," Breitbart, Brandon Darby and Katie McHugh
GARLAND, Texas — "Shots rang out this
evening at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas
during the Mohammed Art Exhibit and Contest. A law enforcement officer
was shot and both suspects have been killed. Officers on the scene said
that it is possible that explosives are in the area. Attendees were immediately forced into
lockdown by police, including three Breitbart News reporters. Sources
say event organizer Pamela Geller and keynote speaker Geert Wilders, a
Dutch politician, are safe. Breitbart Texas was conducting a live video
interview with Geller at the moment of the attack.
LIVE UPDATES FOLLOW:
UPDATE, 12:52 AM: One of the suspects allegedly reached into his backpack before police shot him, according to the LA Times:
“He [the police officer] was shot in the leg, transported to the hospital and he’ll be fine,” Garland Mayor Douglas Athas told the Los Angeles Times.One of the gunmen was shot “immediately” by Garland police, and the other was shot and killed when he reached for a backpack, leading police to fear the men may have brought explosives, Athas said.
UPDATE, 11:50 PM: An FBI joint terrorism task force is inside where the attendees are being kept.
UPDATE, 11:32 PM: The Rowlett/Sachse Scanner notes that the area is in LOCKDOWN.
UPDATE ON THE POLICE INCIDENT:Officers are advising the scene is NOT safe. It is believed that explosive(s) have been placed near the Curtis Culwell Center. FBI Bomb Squad, Garland Police, Garland SWAT, Rowlett Police, Rowlett SWAT, and Texas State Troopers are on scene.There is a huge perimeter set. No one gets in and no one gets out.
UPDATE, 10:59 PM: Attendees were just
informed by police that the FBI would be coming to interview them all,
prior to law enforcement letting them go.
UPDATE, 10:53 PM: The Associated Press has arrived at the scene. A witness says he heard 20 shots fired.
GARLAND, Texas (AP) — "Two armed men who opened fire on a security officer outside of a provocative contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad have been killed, authorities in the Dallas suburb of Garland said Sunday night.
The City of Garland said in a statement posted on its Facebook page Sunday night that two men drove up to the Curtis Culwell Center and began shooting at a security officer.
Garland Police Department officers engaged the gunmen, who were both shot and killed, the statement said.
The statement did not say whether the shooting was related to the event. The security officer’s injuries were not life-threatening, the city said.
The gunmen’s vehicle may contain an “incendiary device,” according to the statement. A bomb squad was on the scene, and nearby businesses were evacuated.
The New York-based American Freedom Defense Initiative had been hosting a contest at the center that would award $10,000 for the best cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
Such drawings are deemed insulting to many followers of Islam and have sparked violence around the world. According to mainstream Islamic tradition, any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad – even a respectful one – is considered blasphemous.
Earlier Sunday, about 75 attendees at the contest were escorted by authorities to another room in the conference center before they were taken to a school bus. Authorities said they would be taken to another location.
Johnny Roby of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was attending the conference. He told The Associated Press he was outside the building when he heard around about 20 shots that appeared to be coming from the direction of a passing car.
Roby said he then heard two single shots. He said he heard officers yell that they had the car before he was sent inside the building.
Pamela Geller, president of the AFDI, told the AP before Sunday’s event that she planned the contest to make a stand for free speech in response to outcries and violence over drawings of Muhammad.
Though it remained unclear several hours after the shooting whether it was related to event, she said Sunday night that the shooting showed how “needed our event really was.”
In January, 12 people were killed by gunmen in an attack against the Paris office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which had lampooned Islam and other religions and used depictions of Muhammad.
Geller’s group is known for mounting a campaign against the building of an Islamic center blocks from the World Trade Center site and for buying advertising space in cities across the U.S. criticizing Islam.""...
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Following is slightly later version of AP report above, including: "A woman held up an American flag, and the crowd sang "God Bless America."
5/4/15, "City: 2 gunmen killed outside Muhammad cartoon contest," AP
GARLAND, Texas (AP) — "Two gunmen were killed Sunday after opening fire on a security officer outside a provocative contest for cartoon depictions of Prophet Muhammad in Texas and a bomb squad was called in to search their vehicle as a precaution, authorities said.
"Because of the situation of what was going on today and the history of what we've been told has happened at other events like this, we are considering their car (is) possibly containing a bomb," Officer Joe Harn, a spokesman for the Garland Police Department, said at a news conference.
Police are not aware of any ongoing threat and had not received any credible threats before the event, Harn said.
Harn said it was not immediately clear whether the shooting was connected to the event inside, a contest hosted by the New York-based American Freedom Defense Initiative that would award $10,000 for the best cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
Such drawings are deemed insulting to many followers of Islam and have sparked violence around the world. According to mainstream Islamic tradition, any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad — even a respectful one — is considered blasphemous.
The Curtis Culwell Center, a school-district owned public events space, was evacuated earlier Sunday, as were some surrounding businesses. Police blocked off a large area around the center Sunday night. There was a heavy police presence, and police helicopters circled overhead as bomb squads worked on the car.
Authorities haven't removed the bodies of the gunmen, who have not yet been identified, Harn said. The bodies are too close to the car to be removed, but that will happen once the scene is clear, he said.
The security officer who was shot worked for the Garland Independent School District, Harn said. He was treated at a local hospital for injuries and had been released Sunday night.
After the shooting, about 75 attendees at the contest were escorted by authorities to another room in the conference center. A woman held up an American flag, and the crowd sang "God Bless America."
The attendees were then taken to a separate location, where an Associated Press reporter was told they could not leave until FBI agents arrived to question them.
Neither the FBI office in Washington, D.C., nor the Dallas office had any immediate comment.
Johnny Roby of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was attending the conference. He told the AP he was outside the building when he heard around about 20 shots that appeared to be coming from the direction of a passing car.
Roby said he then heard two single shots. He said he heard officers yell that they had the car before he was sent inside the building.
Pamela Geller, president of the AFDI, told the AP before Sunday's event that she planned the contest to make a stand for free speech in response to outcries and violence over drawings of Muhammad.
Though it remained unclear several hours after the shooting whether it was related to event, she said Sunday night that the shooting showed how "needed our event really was."
In January, 12 people were killed by gunmen in an attack against the Paris office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which had lampooned Islam and other religions and used depictions of Muhammad. Another deadly shooting occurred the following month at a free speech event in Copenhagen featuring an artist who had caricatured the prophet.
Geller's group is known for mounting a campaign against the building of an Islamic center blocks from the World Trade Center site and for buying advertising space in cities across the U.S. criticizing Islam.
When a Chicago-based nonprofit held a January fundraiser in Garland designed to help Muslims combat negative depictions of their faith, Geller spearheaded about 1,000 picketers at the event. One chanted: "Go back to your own countries! We don't want you here!" Others held signs with messages such as, "Insult those who behead others," an apparent reference to recent beheadings by the militant group Islamic State."
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