BACKLASH: 'ANTI-MUSLIM' SPEAKERS DARE LYNCH TO PROSECUTE
Attorney general's threat against First Amendment draws GOP challengers
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image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2015/02/loretta-lynch.jpg
Loretta Lynch
If Attorney General Loretta Lynch plans to keep her promise made to a Muslim legal group to prosecute “anti-Muslim” speech – a promise delivered the night following the massacre of 14 Americans in San Bernardino by Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik – she may want to begin with two Republican former office holders.
Both are delivering online rants against Islam and are daring Lynch to charge them.
As WND reported, Lynch, speaking at a dinner held by the Muslim Advocates, a national legal advocacy group, did not directly address the San Bernardino shootings at the event, but said there had been a “very disturbing rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric” across America since the Paris shootings three weeks before.
Assuring the pro-Muslim group that “we stand with you,” Lynch said she would use her Justice Department to protect Muslims from “violence” and discrimination and vowed to prosecute anyone guilty of what she described as violence-inspiring speech.
“The fear that you have just mentioned is in fact my greatest fear as a prosecutor, as someone who is sworn to the protection of all of the American people, which is that the rhetoric will be accompanied by acts of violence,” she said. “My message to not just the Muslim community but to the entire American community is: We cannot give in to the fear that these backlashes are really based on.”
She continued, “When we talk about the First Amendment we [must] make it clear that actions predicated on violent talk are not American. They are not who we are, they are not what we do, and they will be prosecuted.”
That threat against the First Amendment is not sitting well with former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh, a Republican who served in Congress from 2011 to 2013 and who now hosts a radio program.
In a video posted to his Facebook page, Walsh slammed both Islam and Lynch.
“I think Islam has a real freaking problem, alright? There is a cancer in Islam, and if they’re not going to learn to assimilate, I don’t want them in this country,” he said.
“You got a problem, Loretta Lynch, with me saying that? Then throw me in jail. I think Islam is evil. I think Islam has a huge problem. I think most Muslims around the world are not compatible with American values. I don’t want them here.”
View Walsh’s video here:
Walsh continued his challenge to Lynch in comments posted to his Facebook page.
"Muslims are killing us in the streets. I am unafraid to tell the truth. C'mon Loretta Lynch, ARREST ME!
"The day after Muslim terrorists killed 14 Americans, Attorney General Loretta Lynch vowed to prosecute anyone who uses 'anti-Muslim rhetoric' that 'edges toward violence.'
"What the hell does that mean? I have a 1st Amendment right, Ms Lynch, to say whatever I want about Muslims.
You want to try and prosecute me for what I say? I dare you. Here goes:
"Most Muslims around the world are terrorists, support terrorism, and/or support Shariah law. They are our enemy. I don't want them in America. Any Muslim that won't assimilate should get the hell out of America. Any Muslim that is a terrorist or supports terrorism should be killed. If 'moderate' Muslims don't speak out against terrorism, they are our enemy and we should call them out and kick them out of this country. I hope there is a backlash against Muslims because Islam, as practiced by most Muslims, is not a religion of peace, and all of us who do live in peace should do whatever we can to defeat Islam.
"There Ms. Lynch. As an American, I have a right to say everything I just did. And I will continue to speak the truth about Islam in the hopes that others will wake up to this truth and do what we can to defeat this evil in our midst.
"Is that 'anti-Muslim rhetoric' that 'edges toward violence'? Go ahead and prosecute me. I dare you."
Former New York Gov. George Pataki, a 2016 Republican candidate for president, upped the ante with a tweet calling for the death of Islamic radicals.
"We must declare war on radical Islam. @LorettaLynch I'm not edging toward violent speech, I'm declaring we kill them. Go ahead, arrest me."
image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2015/12/pataki_tweet_islam.jpg
It remains to see if Walsh or Pataki have crossed Lynch's line in the sand.
Since Lynch gave assurances to the Muslim group, president Obama has acknowledged "acts of terror" were committed in San Bernardino and has scheduled an address to the nation to be broadcast from the Oval Office Sunday evening.
Copyright 2015 WND
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