Law enforcement outside of Mussallet’s vigil // Jeminy Pierce
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A Sunday vigil commemorating the 6-month anniversary of the death of Sayfollah Musallet, a Tampa Bay business owner killed in the West Bank by Israeli settlers, was interrupted by agitators shouting hate speech.
The vigil took place at Ice Sssscreamin, the shop Musallet owned in Tampa.
According to those in attendance, police were called when two agitators began shouting hate speech and interrupting the vigil.
In November, two men faced hate crime charges after harassing Muslims praying on the University of South Florida’s campus, and streaming it online.
Hiba Rahim is the president of the Florida chapter of the Center for American-Islamic Relations.
“They’ve made it very clear that they’d like to join us at our events, whether they’re political events, spiritual events or any event, they would like to show up and agitate and instigate and just disrupt our gathering,” Rahim told WMNF.
Rahim says the Muslim community must now be prepared for these types of agitators.
“We’ll have to reach out for security beforehand. It’s unfortunate that it’s come to that, but if this is the game they want to play, then we just have to be ready to respond in a way that protects our community.” Rahim said.
A report from CAIR showed discrimination and attacks against muslim groups hit a new record in 2024 sparked by to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.