NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An outspoken supporter of a planned mosque that has sparked opposition in Murfreesboro, Tenn., has switched sides and joined the anti-Islam movement.
Eric Allen Bell, a documentary filmmaker, was a fixture at court hearings and protests over the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro in 2010. Back then, he was making a movie called “Not Welcome,” which depicted mosque critics as Southern Christian bigots.
Now he says the mosque is part of a plot to destroy America. He claimed the mosque is “built on a foundation of lies” in a recent op-ed piece at the anti-Islam site Jihadwatch.com.
“I want to communicate that the biggest threat to human rights is Islam,” he said in a recent phone interview.
Mosque supporters feel betrayed by Bell. They wonder if he was a fraud or has been paid off by anti-Muslim groups.
“Only a hired gun would switch sides like this,” said Jace Short of the group Middle Tennesseans for Religious Freedom.
