Proposed Muslim Center Draws Opposing Protests

August 22, 2010

Author: Michael Grynbaum

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/nyregion/23protest.html?ref=religion_and_belief

Around noon on Sunday, Michael Rose, a medical student from Brooklyn, approached some of the hundreds of protesters who had gathered near ground zero to rally against a mosque and Islamic center planned for the neighborhood.

Mr. Rose, 27, carried a handwritten sign in favor of the mosque — “Religious tolerance is what makes America great,” it read — and his presence caused a stir. An argument broke out, punctuated by angry fingers pointed in the student’s face.

One man, his cheeks red, leaned in and hissed that if the police were not present, Mr. Rose would be in danger.