Wichita, Kansas – A commissioner in the second most populous Kansas county put on a slide presentation at a local government meeting showing convicted criminals with the name Mohammed, prompting a Muslim group to respond that American politicians seem to be racing to see who is the more bigoted. The Kansas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations urged Kansas political and religious leaders to repudiate views expressed a day earlier by Sedgwick County Commissioner Karl Peterjohn. The county includes the city of Wichita.
Saying he was providing “a public warning for citizens,” Peterjohn put on a slide presentation depicting photos of people named Mohammed or some derivation of it. Among those depicted in the slides were Mohamed Atta, one of the leaders of the September 11 attacks and John Allen Muhammed, who was executed for the 2002 Washington, D.C. sniper attacks.
Asked to comment, Peterjohn told media outlets that he had “never met a person named ‘Mohammed’ who was, at the same time, a decent, honest, or all-out good guy.” Although causing massive reactions from Muslims throughout the nation, Peterjohn has not apologized or expressed regret in any way.
“The fact to the matter is that any way you look at it, there has been a historic correlation between people who were named Mohammed and countless terrible crimes,” the Sedgwick County Commissioner stated. “There are at least half a dozen people with that name that have caused harm to either Americans or citizens of other countries in the last few months alone, not to mention what would happen if anyone else besides me were to go back in detail to some of the most heinous terrorist crimes that have taken place throughout the world in recent years. The name Mohammed keeps popping up and I don’t get how I seem to be the only one who has figured this out.”
Peterjohn also added: “So, I felt it was my duty to warn Americans, first and foremost, and then other nations as well to be wary of people bearing that hideous name. I take great pride in being a conservative patriot, maybe sometimes even a borderline chauvinist, but we are now at a point where the name Mohammed has become symbolic of danger and death. I urge people in America and around the world to stop befriending Muslim people, and especially people with this name or any derivation of it. Do yourselves a favor – stop endangering your lives and the lives of your loved ones by condoning the behavior of terrorists.”
