President Barack Obama didn't weigh in like he did when a
pastor in Florida threatened to burn the Quran. And
Defense Secretary Robert Gates didn't make a personal
phone call urging the same minister to call it off.
The burning of a Quran and an American flag Saturday by
members of Westboro Baptist Church drew little visible
interest. Instead of the hoards of media representatives
that descended on Florida, only a handful of area
reporters turned out at noon for Westboro's burning.
"I'm glad it didn't get a lot of publicity and it didn't
draw a lot of people to the church," said Imam Omar Hazim,
of the Islamic Center of Topeka. "It seemed people in
Topeka ignored what they were doing."
Members of Topeka's Islamic community were absent from
the event. Hazim said that was by design.
Hazim learned Friday morning of Westboro Baptist's plans
to burn the Quran. He said he mentioned the plans in his 1
p.m. sermon Friday, which was Id al-Fitr, a holiday
marking the end of the month of Ramadan, and he asked
local Muslims to stay away from Saturday's event.
"If we had 40 or 50 of us there and they started getting
angry, things could get out of control," Hazim said. "So I
told them to ignore it."
Mayor Bill Bunten, who was at home watching The
University of Kansas football game during the burning,
said national attention on Westboro Baptist is waning.
"The fool in Florida one-upped them," Bunten said,
referring to the Rev. Terry Jones, of the Dove Outreach
Center church in Gainesville, Fla. "They were apparently
tagging along on his idea, so the fellow in Florida had
stolen the stage, so to speak."
The mayor said Westboro Baptist events are "kind of old
hat now."
During the burning of the Quran and the flag, Westboro
Baptist members sang parodies of familiar hymns and
patriotic songs. Meanwhile, Umar McKloskey, of Chapman,
held his own silent counterprotest on a corner across the
street.
McKloskey, 56, positioned himself on the southeast corner
of S.W. 12th and Orleans, holding a copy of the Quran in
his right hand and a pamphlet on Islam in his left as he
faced westbound motorists who were passing by on S.W.
12th.
"I'm here to promote the Quran, in respect of the fact
that there are people here who want to disrespect the
Quran," said McKloskey, who came with several family
members. "We want to let people know the Quran is worthy
of respect.
"It contains the names of not only Muhammad but also
Jesus, Mary, Moses, Abraham, Adam — in fact, all of the
prophets. Anyone attacking the Quran — it's like attacking
the Bible, because these are people who are prominently
mentioned in the Bible, as well."
A few other counterprotesters, some waving flags, also
turned out to show support for America on the sunny
afternoon, which marked the ninth anniversary of the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks. One counterprotester held a sign
that read, "Honk If You Love Our Country."
A fire pit was positioned on a basketball court inside a
fenced-in area just north of Westboro Baptist, 3701 S.W.
12th. In the pit were a copy of the Quran and an American
flag.
Shirley Phelps-Roper, of Westboro Baptist, announced
earlier in the week plans to burn a Quran and an American
flag — saying they were examples of "idols" people worship
today.
The announcement came as Jones, the Florida minister,
canceled plans for a public Quran burning. Jones had been
implored by religious and political leaders to call off
burning the Qurans amid worldwide media coverage.
As scheduled, the Quran and American flag were burned at
noon Saturday at Westboro Baptist. Phelps-Roper squirted
additional lighter fluid on the Quran several times when
the flames went out.
About three dozen people, mostly church members, were on
hand inside the fenced-in area for the event, which lasted
about 20 minutes. In addition to The Topeka
Capital-Journal, three local television stations covered
the event.
"I thought it was awesome," Shirley Phelps-Roper said
afterward. "It was another 14 on a scale of 10."
A Topeka police car cruised past the church at least two
times, but besides some yelling back and forth, there were
no major confrontations.
Phelps-Roper said she was glad some came who disagreed
with the church's message.
"I love that — everybody saying what they have to say,"
she said.
Phelps-Roper questioned those who believed the church's
event was being ignored, based on e-mail messages it had
been receiving and the amount of online traffic it was
generating.
"We get e-mails when things are happening here," she
said. "We've had just a huge upsurge in e-mails. Plus,
it's all over the Internet. It's all over Twitter."
An official with the U.S. Justice Department from Kansas
City, Mo., was on hand to monitor the event. Afterward,
the official met with local Muslim leaders at the Islamic
Center of Topeka, 1115 S.E. 27th....
