First of all, if you’re unfamiliar with this story, please click here if you have time to be brought up to speed. Essentially a Muslim judge in Mechanicsburg, PA dismissed assault charges against a Muslim who allegedly attacked an infidel on Halloween.
The woman who brought us this story, Pamela Geller, has since interviewed the victim, Ernest Perce and has peeled back a few more layers of this onion.
One of the items Judge Mark Martin would not allow to be submitted into evidence was Perce’s video recording of the assault. That is where Geller’s interview with Perce starts.
Recently I interviewed Ernest Perce and asked him why Judge Martin did not allow the video of the attack to be shown.
Perce: Judge would be offended! Yet they used comments made on the video at YouTube two months later to establish that I had a biased view toward Talaag Elbayomy. If the judge were honest, he would have said, “Attorney, the video is not entered as evidence, and therefore I cannot use the comment from two months after the supposed attack.”
I called demanding to speak to the judge. He was always in a training session or in court. Finally, on February 16, I talked with the judge at 3:42PM, and he said, “I will hold you in contempt of court under section 42 of the Judicial System” if I didn’t take down the audio. He also threatened to hold me in violation of 112 of the Rules of Court Section D.
He also said that I would be held in contempt of court. He denies this now, but this is what he told me. He was furious.
PG: Why did you decide to dress as Zombie Muhammad for Halloween in the first place?
Perce: Mainly to stand for the freedom of speech, and to show my disdain for such a hateful religion and culture. I have always made fun of Muhammad.
PG: When did you start receiving threats?
Perce: I started receiving death threats immediately after putting the video online of the parade. People have said that they would kill me, rip my eyes out, run me over, shoot me and laugh at me, since I have blasphemed Muhammad. They say I will be found out and [hanged] in front of my family.
PG: Did you report these threats? If so, what response did you receive?
Perce: I have reported several of the threats.
PG: What is your reaction to the judge’s telling you that what you did was offensive to Muslims?
Perce: When I first heard Attorney Thomas, the defendant’s attorney, telling me to read the Koran and the judge stayed silent, I was stunned. Then when the judge said, ” I have a Koran; I challenge you to show me where it says Mohammed [rose] from the dead,” I was stunned. I remember thinking “In America, what does it matter what interpretation a person has about a ruthless book?” I thought, “I’m not going to challenge you to a debate, and who in the hell are you to require me to read a Koran?”
This is America! Freedom of speech is our birthright. This judge trampled on the Constitution. At that point I forgot I was recording. Do you think he thinks that being offended justifies harassment? There is no doubt that he believes that offensive speech warrants harassment.
Geller then asks Perce about his next course of action:
PG: What do you plan to do now?
Perce: I am going to organize a protest against Judge Martin. I’m going to buy a billboard featuring Martin’s photo, saying, “You’re outside your bounds of the First Amendment! I’m Mark Martin, I am a Muslim and I’m offended.” Victims are not the antagonists. Women do not deserve to be raped because of how they dress. A woman who has been abused doesn’t warrant further abuse. I’m angry that an official of a court would say this.
As for media attention?
PG: Has the media expressed interest in this story?
Perce: The media has expressed little or no interest. I hope they do, because this judge needs to be out of office.