Muslim leaders and anti-bigotry activists are girding for a weekend of protests — some billed as open-carry events” — by groups known for their anti-Muslim views.
“We’ve never had this many events at once targeting mosques in this kind of national way,” said Heidi Beirich, who tracks hate groups at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Organizers, who are calling for protests on Friday and Saturday (Oct. 9 and 10), are billing the events as the “Global Rally for Humanity.” Beirich describes the protesters as a loose affiliation of anti-Muslim extremists who do not seem to be organized by larger, better-known anti-Muslim groups, such as Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative.
