A San Francisco Bay Area cemetery has removed a sign announcing a new Islamic section after it was placed atop a September 11 memorial, sparking community outrage. The cemetery owner stated that permission had been granted to place the signs but not to place them on the monument. Residents expressed their extreme dissatisfaction, with one describing the act as “eccentric” and disrespectful to the majesty of the September 11 facility.
A cemetery in the San Francisco Bay Area removed a banner affixed to a September 11 memorial announcing a new Muslim section after backlash from the community.NBC Bay Area reported that the owner of Memorial Gardens Cemetery said he recently sold part of the property to a Muslim family, and that he “gave them permission to put up signs but did not give them permission to drape them over the 9/11 installation.”
“The owner reportedly removed the sign, but community residents said the sign should not have been put up to begin with.Danny Kimmel, a resident of Concord, California, said the sign advertising a covered Islamic memorial park at the 9/11 Memorial was placed in front of the cemetery where his mother is buried, NBC Bay Area reported.“I felt punched in the gut,” he said, according to the report.
“Seeing that sign on that memorial is kind of crazy I think about it.”
Kimmel’s brother was killed in Vietnam, and he said his mother would be completely against putting up the sign.“She wasn’t just rolling over, she was getting up and walking,” he said.Violet Kimmel, Danny Kimmel’s sister-in-law, also expressed her concerns.“There’s room for everyone, but you just have to be respectful of where you put your stuff.”