A county commissioner has refused to apologize for posting an image on his Facebook page that declared Muslims were best greeted from behind a shotgun barrel.
The image showed a man in a cowboy hat pointing a double-barreled shotgun at the viewer with the caption, "how to wink at a Muslim." Barry West, commissioner for Coffee County in Middle Tennessee, said he shared the image because he thought it was funny and wanted to make a point. He denied being prejudiced against Muslims "per se."
"I'm prejudiced against anyone who's trying to tear down this country, Muslims, Mexicans, anybody," he told the Tullahoma News. "If you come into this country illegally or harm us or take away benefits, I'm against it."
The Tennessean noted the region had seen various anti-Muslim crimes over the past years.
A mosque in Nashville was vandalized with anti-Muslim graffiti this year and in 2010, and arsonists burnt down another mosque in Columbia in 2008.
Residents of Murfreesboro also attempted to block the construction of a new mosque by claiming that Muslims were not protected by the First Amendment. The Murfreesboro mosque faced arson and vandalism while under construction.
BARRY WEST FOR PRESIDENT!!!
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