Gunmen Taken Out at Texas “Draw Mohammed” Event
Don’t mess with Texas
Last night, two gunmen were killed after firing on a security guard outside of a “Draw Mohammed” free speech event in Garland, Texas.
Bruce Joiner, the Garland ISD security officer who was shot in the attack, was hospitalized with an ankle wound but released last night.
CNN has a good condensed timeline of events:
The men drove up to the Curtis Culwell Center in North Garland, got out of their car and began shooting just as the “Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest” inside was ending around 7 p.m. (8 p.m. ET).
An unarmed security guard, Bruce Joiner, was shot in the ankle. He was later treated and released from a hospital.
Garland police, who were helping with security, fired back, killing both gunmen. The exchange lasted about 15 seconds, police said.
“The first suspect was shot immediately,” Garland Mayor Douglas Athas told CNN. “The second suspect was wounded and reached for his backpack. He was shot again.”
The gunmen’s identities weren’t immediately released.
“We have no other indication that anyone else was involved,” Athas said.
Early Monday morning, FBI and local officials were checking the gunmen’s vehicle for explosives and the area around the center was blocked off.
Surrounding businesses, including a Walmart, were evacuated, as were attendees from the Curtis Culwell Center.
There is no immediate threat to the area, police said; the check for explosives was a precautionary measure.
“It’s a very slow, tedious operation that goes on,” Garland police spokesman Joe Harn said.
The AP has audio and video from the scene:
The news started flowing from the scene faster than traditional MSM tactics could release it:
Breaking: 3 ppl shot – 2 dead.. pic.twitter.com/cY4IFvCw5J
— Jocelyn Lockwood (@JocelynNBC5) May 4, 2015
Soon after officials began checking for explosives, those still in the area heard…something:
BREAKING: Explosion heard as bomb teams worked around the vehicle police say was driven by two gunmen @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/HN4zTb9zMR
— Jocelyn Lockwood (@JocelynNBC5) May 4, 2015
Garland police had warned of electronic magnetic pulse prior to event @NBCDFW
— Kevin Cokely (@KevinCokelyNBC5) May 4, 2015
The City of Garland responded soon after the shooting:
Short statement from the city of Garland https://t.co/esZHlLP9GF pic.twitter.com/9z8enqOt1H
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) May 4, 2015
Texas Governor Greg Abbott also released a statement:
“Texas officials are actively investigating to determine the cause and scope of the senseless attack in Garland, Texas. This is a crime that was quickly ended thanks to the swift action by Garland law enforcement. Our thoughts and prayers remain with all those affected tonight.”
Twitter immediately spoke up to defend free speech (though not, necessarily, the event itself):
Some are saying the art "provoked" the attack. No. I'd say the constant attacks provoked the art. #garlandshooting
— Brandon Darby (@brandondarby) May 4, 2015
No matter how rude I choose to be, it will never justify your choice to attempt to murder me. Get over yourselves. #garlandshooting
— Aaron Gardner (@Aaron_RS) May 4, 2015
If you look at the #garlandshooting and your first impulse is to criticize free speech, you are a HUGE part of what is wrong with America.
— Brad Thor (@BradThor) May 4, 2015
Then, of course, there’s this, which embodies “missing the point completely”:
Free speech aside, why would anyone do something as provocative as hosting a "Muhammad drawing contest"?
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) May 4, 2015
(FYI, this particular reporter isn’t particularly consistent in her opinions of provocative art.)
The Daily Mail has a great collection of photographs, which you can see here. We’ll keep you posted on any updates out of Garland.
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Comments
In Texas law-abiding citizens can carry weapons. It is not Paris. There was no charlie hebdo.
Don’t forget that we are also God fearing folk in this neck of the woods. I marveled in 2000 when I moved here from Vermont how often I saw people praying over their meals at restaurants. Still do.
I have to add that our biggest weapon in Texas is our faith, not our guns.
And our God is a pretty big one who looks over this place making sure that those with guns are there for us in the right time and place.
God bless Texas! & Thank you Lord!
The security guard shot was a school district employee who was unarmed. The center is owned by the school district and rented out as it was to a Muslim group in January where no one was shot for exercising THEIR first amendment rights or right to assemble. Remember this as the media will ignore this and castigate anyone who dares to insult Islam. Also the SWAT officers who were on site were hired and paid by the assembly not the city.
W*O*W..!!
What a nice piece of news to see as I checked my email at yahoo. Came straight here!! GO, Texas!!
(NBC on-sight Reporter Chick: “..And, the two suspects were asked their reactions to the Immediate Police reaction to their attempted..errrrr…intrusion…They replied…ummm..
and then they said….Hmmmmm…Uhhhh…Back to you Ralph…!!”)
“suburban Dallas venue hosting a PROVOCATIVE contest for Prophet Muhammad cartoons” http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PROPHET_CARTOON_CONTEST_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-03-22-31-03
The narrative is set. Don’t be provocative. Don’t offend Muslims. Maybe wear a burka in Dallas. And keep your mouth shut.
Flypaper.
The next war will be a religious war in which the death toll will exceed 1.7 billion humans.
A skirmish in that war occurred last night in Garland, TX.
When George W Bush was president nearly all of the skirmishes took place in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Barack Hussein Obama has succeeded in bringing that war to these shores, to American soil with skirmishes in that war now occurring in the house, block, street, city and state next door to all of us.
those wacky, water pouring on the mouths of people, Christians…
Can’t wait to hear the Obama administration apologize to Moslems for the event.
I am so thankful that the cops and security were able to stop these scumbags so quickly! Two less jihadis the world has to worry about! Still, it’s a good reminder that we need to stay vigilant at large public events, especially those these islamic pieces of s*** would object to.
Whenever there’s a shooting and I see the phrase “CNN has released a good condensed timeline of events,” I brace myself for stupidity.
In this case, the timeline actually looks reasonable, and I’m going to say something I don’t say very often: Good work CNN.
Also good work to the Texas police officers on the scene. So far it seems to be a textbook example of how to respond to the situation.
Speaking of CNN, just saw a beautiful video of Pamela Geller CRUSHING a woman (formerly @Fox, but they wouldn’t renew her contract) who was boo-hooing for poor muslims. GO Pamela!! Please everyone, watch it!
CNN = Certainly Never News.
Don’t. Mess. With. Texas.
Wow, you guys are amazing. Can we get summa-that here in CA?
Why would “they” do something so provocative? … as standing on the American flag, as Obama’s political mentor Bill Ayers likes to do? Leftists love to do it in our face, despite their “blaspheme” toward the millions that fought for that flag.
“They” do their best to trash Christians (e.g. “Piss Christ art”), despite, or even because of, the Christian culture that is the foundation of our still mostly peaceful social fabric. They know the Christians they mock are good and will not beat or shoot them.
But even if these misguided souls have a sincere message in their offensive speech, is there not a sincere message behind the mocking of Mohammad, and/or the mocking of his holy armies of jihadist murderers? Trump came out (on Fox this morning) and said it was disgusting for Geller to taunt them … “what the hell is she doing? What is the purpose of it?”
All religions are not equal, nor are all cultures, though “Diversity Religion” preaches just that, in its moral equivalence apologetics. There is an effort to “westernize” Islam, but that moves it away from the fundamental essence of their book. In many ways the forced submission in Islam is a polar opposite to Christian free choice, but most on air Christian voices tend to submissively equivocate down to “most Muslims are good and peaceful”.
While Christian aligned America is told not to insult or condemn “The Prophet”, Hillary says we as a country must change Christian belief. Even the communists long ago recognized the harmonizing effect of the Christian fiber running through the fabric of the American flag and our culture. So they (and all these leftists) seek to revise and co-opt Christianity with “social justice” and Obama’s allegedly Christian church that preaches “liberation theology”.
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/05/02/highest-ranking-cold-war-defector-the-kgb-invented-liberation-theology/
They call this Texas event a free speech rally, but the purpose of it is not solely to show they can freely draw Mohammad, but that they have a message that MUST use Mohammad, as that is the god these terrorists are worshiping. The savagery of ISIS is almost certainly close to the savagery of Mohammad, according to their own book, which ISIS follows closely. But Trump says “silence, you must not insult”.
Christians (or any American) should not be afraid to insult any religion, including their own. While the American left tries to purge Christian thought from our society, Islam gladly runs states under sharia law. It’s going to take a lot of honest dialogue to undo the decades of intimidated speech, and this event is just a start at cracking the “thou shalt not draw Mohammad” law enforced even by our own MSM.
Islam itself needs an honest review, and those seeking to push fundamental change, their version of “reformation”, have an uphill battle, as Mohammad was an oppressive tyrant to the core. The Christian reformation came with a return to “the book”, but Islam would have to rewrite their book.
The progressives whine, like the sniveling little bitches that they are, because somebody might be “offensive” to “The Religion of Peace.” All the while they want to use the force of government to force Christians to pay for abortions and to bake cakes to celebrate things they find offensive. And all the while the “Religion of Peace” is chopping heads and burning churches. Useful idiots.
You’ll need to draw faster next time Mo. You’re not attacking sitting ducks in Paris any more.
…so your saying….Islam is the religion of “Anti-Christ”….
Well it is “your” comments, but I meant “you’re” in the above question.
ha …well no, I’m saying in the broader context of how these two “religions” have melded into societies and governments, they are nearly opposite. So even an atheist that thinks the Jesus stuff is silly, might still recognize the fruits of those religious beliefs, and still see the clear distinction. The oppression of women and everyone really, in the Islamic countries, is antithetical to the freedom our founders provided, as they worked from their WASPy foundation. They considered other things than the Bible, though much of that dealt with how religion can be subverted to oppress.
I prefer to leave the Jesus story separate, for these forums, yet recognize the “fruit” of those Christians. Sort of a “by their fruit you shall know them” kind of thing maybe. A proper “belief” is tied to good fruit, and anyone can participate in that fruit on a purely social or political level. But Islam would seem to break many of those rules, so there claim to higher authority would hence be nullified.
I’m still figuring it all out … some day I have to read the classics and put it all together. lol
BRAVO! BRAVO! That is worth repeating.
RE: Midwest Rhino “While Christian aligned America is told not to insult or condemn “The Prophet”, Hillary says we as a country must change Christian belief. Even the communists long ago recognized the harmonizing effect of the Christian fiber running through the fabric of the American flag and our culture. So they (and all these leftists) seek to revise and co-opt Christianity with “social justice” and Obama’s allegedly Christian church that preaches “liberation theology”.
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/05/02/highest-ranking-cold-war-defector-the-kgb-invented-liberation-theology/
…
“Christians (or any American) should not be afraid to insult any religion, including their own. While the American left tries to purge Christian thought from our society, Islam gladly runs states under sharia law. It’s going to take a lot of honest dialogue to undo the decades of intimidated speech, and this event is just a start at cracking the “thou shalt not draw Mohammad” law enforced even by our own MSM….
So the headline should read: “Right-wing Christian fundamentalists murder two muslims at hate rally.”
Dead vermin isn’t murder. Just saying.
I am amazed by those people who say inane things like “They knew drawing Mohammed was provocative. They should have expected violence.”
If we don’t stop this self-curtailing of our rights just because someone gets upset, in ten years those same people will be saying “They knew having a pork barbecue was provocative. They should have expected violence.” And ten years later, it will be owning a dog. And so on.
This is the last place I expected to have to make a post like this, but it appears that presumption was incorrect so …
Islam is absolutely not a “religion” in the common meaning of that word; it is unlike Christianity, Judaism, or any other even vaguely traditional religion. It is in reality an extreme set of political, legal, and civil codes encompassing every single part of life, a complete system that incidentally has a religious component. By considering it a religion first and foremost and equating it with actual mainstream religions we give it a legitimacy it does not deserve.
As to the idea of it being a “religion of peace”? Only someone who has not actually read the Qu’ran – or an Islamic Supremacist practicing the doctrine of taqiyah (permissible lying) – could say that. One of Islam’s basic tenets is abrogation, wherein Mohamed’s later pronouncements replace/invalidate any earlier ones on the same topic. As a result virtually ALL of the peaceful sections have been invalidated! They’re still in the book, but they “don’t count” any more … and haven’t held any validity for the last 1400 years!
So, don’t fall into the trap of giving any credence to the wailings of Islamic Supremacists. They do not deserve our deference, have not earned it, and will only consider it a sign of moral weakness to be used against us. The First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech was written specifically to protect unpopular speech and if that offends the Supremacists perhaps they should move to a place without such radical ideas, a place where they can live under the Sharia they adore.
In the meantime, kudos to the Garland police for their immediate and proper action!
Walker Evans; I just want to thank you for post. It was well written and, for a change, unemotional in explanation. I’m copying your information about “the religion of peace” and sending it to several people in my family, they need to hear/read the truth explained clearly (I’m not very good at the “clearly” part…too emotional 😛 ).