Hill: Garland Event More About ‘Spectacle,’ Was ‘Irresponsible’

CNN Political Commentator Marc Lamont Hill argued that the Mohammed Art Exhibit and Contest that was attacked by two gunmen “didn’t feel like an exercise in free speech that resulted in an unfortunate occurrence,” “was much more about creating a spectacle,” and was “irresponsible” on Wednesday’s “New Day.”

Hill said, “I don’t know anyone who’s made the argument that she [the event’s organizer, Pamela Geller] doesn’t have a right to say it. The people I know, like myself, in fact, are saying ‘yeah, you have a right to say it.’ And I don’t think it rises to the legal level of inciting anything. I think the question though is why do you want to do this? This didn’t feel like an exercise in free speech that resulted in an unfortunate occurrence. It seemed like they were generally saying, ‘we’re going to have an event for the sole purpose of ticking off Muslims, for sort of sowing Islamophobia. For doing all of these things.’ And I don’t think it’s about the First Amendment even for them. I mean, there were speakers, there, one of the keynote speakers is from the Netherlands, and he’s advocating getting rid of the Koran in the country. So, he’s not even a First Amendment advocate. I think this was much more about creating a spectacle, and the sad thing for me is that two, sort of outliers, in the Islamic community came in and gave them what they were looking for. And I’m not saying they were looking to die, but I think they were looking to make an example.” And that he believed the event was “irresponsible.”

The discussion then turned to whether there is a double standard in how the media treats different religions, where Hill said that there is an “amazing critique” that the media will show images that are offensive to Christians, but not Muslims. He added that Muslims are not given favorable treatment by the media, and “Muslims are seen as more violent than other religions, they’re seen as less civilized than other religions, they’re seen as more prone to terrorism than other religions.”

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