Legal Project Zombie Mohammed Supporting Articles

							http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/27/pennsylvania-judge-musim-zombie-muhammad_n_1304764.html



Pennsylvania Judge Dismisses Case
Against Muslim Accused Of Attacking
Atheist Dressed As 'Zombie Muhammad'
(VIDEO)
   Posted: 02/27/2012 4:07 pm Updated: 02/27/2012 8:11 pm

    A storm of controversy has erupted over the ruling of a Pennsylvania judge to dismiss a
case against a Muslim man accused last October of attacking an atheist who marched as
"Zombie Muhammad" in a local Halloween parade.
    Citing a lack of admissible evidence, Cumberland County Magisterial District Judge
Mark Martin dismissed harassment charges against Talaag Elbayomy, a muslim immigrant
who was recorded in a grainy video last October physically engaging another man, Ernest
Perce V, during the Oct. 11 parade in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
    Perce, a member of the "Parading Atheists of Central PA," filed a complaint with police
alleging that Elbayomy attacked him during the parade and inflicted bodily harm, according
to the Harrisburg Patriot-News.
    "He grabbed me, choked from the back, spun me around to try to get [my "Muhammad
of Islam" sign] off that was wrapped around my neck," Perce told ABC 27 News.
    Elbayomy in turn filed a complaint with police alleging that Perce instigated the attacks
and told courts that he never touched him during the argument. But the officer who took the
pair's complaints, Sgt. Brian Curtis, told ABC 27 that Elbayomy admitted at the scene to
grabbing Perce's sign and pulling his fake beard, which led Curtis to charge him with
harassment.
    Saying that the case represents one man's word against the other and that the video is
inadmissible, Judge Martin threw out the charge against Elbayomy, Fox News reports.
    But in announcing his ruling, Martin also made remarks that have led a number of
organizations to accuse him of bringing religion into the courtroom.

    Writing for American Atheists, Al Stefanelli said he was particularly concerned with
portions of Martin's remarks where he "offers a lesson on Islam."
    According to a transcribed audio recording of Martin's remarks posted to YouTube by
Perce, which was later re-transcribed for clarity by the National Review Online, the judge
told Perce that "what you have done is you have completely trashed their essence, their
being. They find it very very very offensive."
    Judge Martin continued:
If I were a Muslim, I'd find it offensive. But you have that right, but you're way outside your
boundaries or first amendment rights. This is what, and I said I spent about 7 and a half
years living in other countries. when we go to other countries it's not uncommon for people
to refer to us as ugly Americans this is why we are referred to as ugly Americans, because we
are so concerned about our own rights we don't care about other people's rights as long as
we get our say but we don't care about the other people's say.

   Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, wrote that wherever
Martin's religious leanings may fall, the greater issue is that "his legal views seem
grotesquely out of place."
   "There are legitimate uses of the culture defense. However, when it comes to free speech,
that is not just our controlling constitutional right but the touchstone of our culture," Turley
wrote. "... I view this as an extremely troubling case that raises serious questions of judicial
temperament, if not misconduct."
   Since the controversial ruling was handed down, Perce says he has received hundreds of
death threats.

    “People have said that they would kill me, rip my eyes out, run me over, shoot me and
then laugh at me, since I have blasphemed Muhammad,”Perce told The Daily Caller. “They
say I will be found out and hung in front of my family.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501363_162-57387025/judges-dismissal-of-harassment-charge-goes-viral/

February 28, 2012 4:35 PM

Judge's dismissal of harassment
charge goes viral
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania judge has switched to a different
courthouse as a security precaution because of an uproar over his decision to
throw out a harassment charge against a Muslim man who confronted a
Halloween parade marcher dressed as the Prophet Mohammed.

Mechanicsburg District Judge Mark Martin's ruling that threw out the summary
charge against Talaag (TAH'-log) Elbayomy (el-BAH'-yo-mee) has been
drawing scrutiny for the past week or so. That's after alleged victim Ernest
Perce (PEERSE), a self-described atheist activist, uploaded an edited
audiotape of the hearing.

In that tape, Martin tells Perce that he knew details of Islam from serving with
the military overseas and that Perce misrepresented the religion to the point
where he looked "like a doofus."

Martin said Tuesday he's received hundreds of calls, many under the
mistaken impression he's Muslim.
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2012/March/Pa-Sharia-Ruling-Judge-Defends-Decision/

'Sharia Ruling' Judge Defends Decision for Muslim
BY Erick Stakelbeck
CBN News Terrorism Analyst

Many are wondering whether a Pennsylvania judge went too far in dismissing a harassment
charge against a Muslim who attacked a man for mocking Islam's Prophet Mohammed.

Atheist Ernie Perce had dressed up as what he called "Zombie Mohammed" for a march at a
Halloween parade in Mechanicsburg, Pa.

That's when Perce charges a Muslim man named Talaag Elbayomy attacked him on the street.

"He grabbed me, choked me from the back and spun me around to try to get my sign off that was
wrapped around my neck," Perce recalled.

Police charged the Muslim with harassment. But when the case went to court, Cumberland
County's Judge Mark Martin not only threw it out, he slammed Perce for mocking Islam, calling
him a "doofus."
"Well, having had the benefit of having spent over two and half years in predominately Muslim
countries, I think I know a little bit about the faith of Islam," the judge said.

"So before you start mocking somebody else's religion, you might want to find out a little bit
more about it," said Martin, who served three Middle East tours in the U.S. Armed Forces. "It
kind of makes you look like a doofus."

Perce said the judge also made reference to being a Muslim in his ruling.

"What you've done is you've completely trashed their essence, their being," the judge said. "They
find it very, very, very offensive. I'm a Muslim. I find it offensive."

But in a phone interview, Martin told CBN News he's a life-long Lutheran, not a Muslim.

"The victim claims that I said that I was a Muslim, and he portrayed incorrectly that I was a
Muslim, and that I showed biased toward Muslims in my ruling, and really that's ridiculous,"
Martin told CBN News.

But critics, like Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, say the judge stepped out of bounds of the First
Amendment.

"It's outrageous when a judge just decides, 'I've got a black robe I'm sitting up on high, so I'm
going to make up my own law or follow a law other than the Constitution,'" Gohmert told CBN
News.
Gohmert, who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee and a former judge himself, said
Martin's ruling in this case isn't too far from Islamic Sharia law.

"It sounds like he's Sharia compliant, not constitutionally compliant," the Texas lawmaker said.

Martin, however, stands by his ruling, saying there wasn't enough evidence to find the defendant
guilty. He told CBN News he believes one of his roles is to keep peace in the community.

"Just because you have First Amendment rights that allow you to say something doesn't
necessarily mean that you should always say that thing you want to say," Martin said.

"What I was trying to do in as quick of a time as I could, (is) educate the victim to try help him
understand a little bit about Islam," he explained.

Police Sgt. Brian Curtis, the arresting officer in the case, was not happy with the judge's ruling.

"I believe that I brought a case that showed proof beyond reasonable doubt, and the case was
dismissed, and I was disappointed," Curtis said.

The Muslim defendant in the case reportedly did not know it is legal to criticize Mohammed
under U.S. law.