Awful Peoria Yard Cutouts Depict Man Shooting Another Man In A Turban

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Mar 1, 2016 10:24PM

An East Peoria man has stirred up controversy in his town by decorating his lawn with Islamophobic yard cutouts. The disturbing cutouts depict the silhouette of a man with a shotgun aimed at another man wearing a turban, according to a local WEEK report.

Dennis Murdy, who lives on Bloomington Road, told WEEK that he is exercising his freedom of speech, that "not one neighbor has complained," and that he was motivated to put up the brutal lawn decorations by his prejudice against Muslims.

"The Muslims and Islam is one of the most violent cults there is. It is not a religion. It's a cult. Their Qur'an says nothing but violence. You can see what Isis is doing. They are spreading across the country and this is biblical," Dennis Murdy commented.

Murdy doesn't think all Muslims are violent. But he blames the peaceful ones for not stopping it. He also thinks Muslims should not be welcomed in the country.

"That was intended to show my feelings on what's happening to our country and other parts of the country," Murdy continued.

Naturally, neighbors and local Islamic organizations are very concerned about the cutouts:

"Free speech should not be mixed with hate speech. It's extremely important and we have to draw that line. If Islamophobia is going to be acceptable, by the same token, anti-semitism and racism would be acceptable. That is wrong," said Imam Kamil Mufti with the Islamic Foundation of Peoria.