An internet-inspired series of anti-Muslim protests planned for last weekend fizzled in Oklahoma and most of the nation.
The Oklahoma City mosque was one of 20 mosques around the nation specifically targeted for “Global Rally for Humanity” protests, causing state Muslim leaders to meet last week with law enforcement officials, and to ask their fellow Muslims to be alert.
Imam John Ederer of the Islamic Society of Tulsa said there were “zero” protests in Tulsa and at other mosques in the state, and only a few protesters at a Muslim conference on Muhammad held Saturday at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.
“They left when it became apparent that no one was buying into this deal,” said Ederer, who spoke at the conference, attended by about 500 people.
Adam Soltani, with the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said no one protested at the Oklahoma City mosque. He said six or eight people protested at the Edmond conference, but stayed a distance from the event.
About 20 counter-protesters came to show their support for the Muslim community, carrying signs like “God bless our Muslim neighbors,” he said.
Anti-Muslim protests around the nation were poorly attended, according to various news sources, with the exception of Phoenix, where about 500 people gathered, about equally anti-Muslim protesters and pro-Muslim counter protesters, in a sometimes noisy but peaceful event.