CNN's Cheryl Robinson filed this report from New York:
The husband-and-wife team behind the planned Islamic center and mosque near New York's ground zero have received threats, a New York police spokesman said Sunday, hours after the wife said her life is under threat.
The threats "began several weeks ago," police spokesman Paul Browne told CNN "We were investigating them."
Browne would disclose no details of the threats made against Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf or his wife, Daisy Khan, or whether they were receiving any police protection.
Khan raised the issue during a discussion aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week," which spent this week's broadcast focusing on American Muslims and the fears evoked by the proposed Park51 Islamic center in New York and by mosques in other parts of the United States.
"For the record, my life is under threat," she said.
"Check with the Police Department. My husband's life is under threat," she added. "We do not walk around with bodyguards, because we love this country. We don't walk around with big bodyguards because we don't want use taxpayer's money."
Gary Bauer, a conservative Christian leader who opposes the Park51 project, responded that "Anybody in public life, in a free society, has nuts that threaten their lives."
However, associates of Rauf have said the imam is largely avoiding New York because of security concerns and is receiving protection from the New York Police Department. The Rev. James Parks Morton told CNN in September, "There's just a lot of crazies, and that's why he has police protection from the NYPD."
The planned Islamic center has drawn protests since June. Critics call the project insensitive to those who were killed by al Qaeda, the Islamic fundamentalist movement behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
Others warn it's a sign of growing Islamic influence in the United States.
But the project has the approval of New York city officials and the outspoken backing of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Khan and Rauf have said the center is aimed at "tolerance, understanding and peaceful co-existence," as Khan put it on ABC.
"This particular center will create a counter-momentum against extremism, because it will amplify the voices of moderate Muslims, which have gotten drowned out over the years by the extremists," she said.
That'll show 'em what peace-loving people we are.
The hypocrisy of the political right in this country is boundless.
Really, and those Islamic nations who threaten to attack us if we don't allow this Mosques is peaceful?
I will bet $100 cash right now that these are idle threats as almost always. Real terrorist psychos rarely threaten. They DO. How many times do you hear of a terror attack after repeated threats? Not often.
This Park51 project is going to screw them in USA. now they makinig themselv look bad in US and hatred towards them. Why cann't you just think clever and stop it building there
Sounds like people are not happy go back to the middle east and there will be no worries of hypocrisy
Lawrence, please name one Islamic country who has threatened to attack the US if we do not allow this mosque. Please, just one.
We do not owe them anything or have to prove anything. We as americans are peaceful people. ...Period. They are not. We need to take care of our own.
deb: Needs to read up. Idle threats are different from the actual practices of Islamic nations, where beheading, and body hanging is a reality.
American woman... We are NOT a peaceful people. US history is rife with bloodshed and wars. We were created through war and have existed as a military country. We became a successful country economically and globally because of the world wars. Our country has fought every step of the way, quite astonishing really considering our relatively short history. It is arrogant to claim superiority when we are not without faults of our own. The issue boils down to a significant difference of cultures.
Name a time in U.S. History where we've been peaceful...We've always had someone to hate. If it's not the British then it's the French... if not the French it's Spain... if it's not Spain it's American Indians... if it's not American Indians it's witches... if it's not witches it's black people... or women... or the Irish... or the Chinese... or th... Do I need to keep this up or is my point coming across yet? If not I can come up with more people the U.S. has been bigoted against... quite easily in fact.
The U.S. isn't the U.S. without someone to hate.
The guy is a slum-lord. The threats are probably from his tenants.
All though I do not condone the threats, I am deeply opposed to this Mosque. America has been wounded and pouring salt into that wound by force feeding us is going to do nothing but incite more hatred, violence, discrimination, and resentment! Everyday American soldiers are dying for a cause that Americans in general don't seem to support. Do you think we could at least get our soldiers out of the sand box before we are forced to accept this?
RUReal: can you give any examples of countries where this happens, or when it actually happened? Or are you just writing things that you don't actually know about?
There *are* countries where people are killed and imprisoned and even executed unjustly. Few of them are Islamic, but some are. But if you REALLY think we should act like that, I suggest you move there.
We are all threatened every day by Islam because we are Christian. Islam teaches you to hate our way of life. No one can even make a joke about YOUR God without death threats again them. The whole idea of a victory mosque is insulting and disrespectful to ALL Americans if you are an American why don't you understand this point of reason? Probably because you are a Muslim first not an American first. Islam teaches you to hate any way of life that is not Your way of life and because we are Christian you think we are weak so you use our believe in our Christian God against us. Move the Mosque away from ground zero. You have 100 million dollars so you can put it anywhere but you MUST build a VICTORY Mosque on the site of the Victory. If you are real Americans, Move the Mosque away from ground zero.
Johann, yes it is true that people were threatened for their actions. but you are not ONE OF THEM because you did not do or say something stupid against other people's religious belief!
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