The Infidels MC biker club is holding a Ramadan barbecue and pig roast.
150 people are expected at the event.
The local sheriff’s office is planning to station deputies at the roast.
Reuters reported:
About 150 people are expected to attend a Saturday barbecue with an anti-Islam theme, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
The Sheriff’s Office is planning to station deputies at the pig roast – titled “In Defiance of the Islamic Holiday of Ramadan” – “to make sure the community is safe,” said spokeswoman Jacqueline Kirby.
A Sheriff’s Office commander who contacted event organizers learned late Friday that the event would go on as planned, she said.
The event is being put on by the Colorado Springs chapter of the Infidels Motorcycle Club, which is made up of veterans, and is being held at its headquarters northwest of Peterson Air Force base in the Cimarron Hills area. Kirby said the Sheriff’s Office has had no previous calls for service at the warehouse location where the club has held other events.
Though Kirby said the Sheriff’s Office does not anticipate problems, the pig roast is being held about two months after a well-publicized contest for cartoon depictions of the prophet Muhammad drew two armed ISIS sympathizers to the exhibit in a Dallas suburb. Police shot the two men dead.
A notice from the Sheriff’s Office to its deputies said military police found copies of a flier promoting the barbecue posted around Fort Carson in an attempt to “negatively” impact Muslim military members and their families who are observing Ramadan. The fliers were immediately taken down, the notice said.
“Fort Carson is investigating the posting of fliers at a single location on post about the Infidels MC club and cannot discuss any specifics in regards to the investigation,” post officials said Friday. “These types of fliers are contrary to our Army values and beliefs in dignity and respect for all.
Current Chapters of the Infidels Motor Club are located in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida (Fort Walton Beach & Panama City), Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina (Fayetteville, Raeford & Sanford), Tennessee, Texas (Bonham & San Antonio) and Virginia.
