An upcoming weekend barbecue hosted by a local motorcycle club to protest the Islamic holiday Ramadan has the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office ready to provide “extra man power” at the event.
A flier obtained by The Gazette says the Colorado Springs chapter of the Infidels Motorcycle Club is hosting an “open bike party” and “pig roast” - titled “In Defiance of the Islamic Holiday of Ramadan” - at the group’s headquarters northwest of Peterson Air Force base in the Cimarron Hills area.
The motorcycle club is made up of veterans, according to its website.
A notice from the Sheriff’s Office to its deputies said military police found copies of the flier posted around Fort Carson in an attempt to “negatively” impact Muslim military members and their families who are observing Ramadan. The fliers were immediately taken down.
Dani Johnson, a Fort Carson spokeswoman, said she had not heard about the fliers or the barbecue. The Infidels Motorcycle Club is not on Fort Carson’s off-limits list.
Wednesday marked the first day of Ramadan, a monthlong holiday in which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, refraining from food, liquids, smoking and sex, to help them understand self-discipline, self-control, sacrifice and people who are less fortunate.
The president of the Colorado Muslim Society, based in Denver, said he had not heard about the barbecue or offensive fliers and did not want to see them.
“There’s a lot of crazy people in the world,” Mohammad Noorzai said. “My advice, always, to the general public and good people of the world: Just ignore it.”
He did not encourage a counterprotest.
“There’s a verse in the Quran, the holy book. Allah, God almighty, tells us when the ignorant people want to address you, or argue with you or address you, just tell them ‘peace,’” Noorzai said. “And that’s my message to these kind of people. Peace.”
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office sent a bulletin to its deputies alerting them of the “patriot party.”
“We absolutely put it on our radar,” Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Jacqueline Kirby said about the barbecue. “We will respond accordingly to make sure the community is safe, and we don’t anticipate any problems.”
Kirby said the Sheriff’s Office contacted the Infidels Motorcycle Club about the event, but deputies had not heard back by Thursday afternoon.
The flier shows an Internet memelike depiction of the Islamic prophet Muhammad with arguably offensive language. It also depicts a scantily clad woman wearing only the head and shoulders portion of a burka and a picture breaking down parts of a pig, which likely refers to the Muslim practice of avoiding pork. It also has an explicit reference toward the militant group ISIS in a font similar to the Arabic alphabet.
“There will be patriotism, brotherhood, food and drinks, merchandise, music and good times,” says one of the messages on the flier.
A message left on a contact number from the flier was not returned. In a KRDO report, an event organizer did not answer questions about the theme but did say the barbecue might be canceled because of its “poor taste.”