While thousands rallied in Cairo in both support and opposition of Mohammed Morsi, hundreds took to the streets of Chicago on Sunday to rally for Egypt’s first democratically elected president.
“We were so proud of our democracy, and these guys stole it from us,” Wael Elfeqy, an Egyptian who voted for Mr. Morsi about a year ago, told the Chicago Tribune.
Three days of demonstrations and chaos in Egypt ended Wednesday when the military seized power and jailed the president. Adly Mansour, chief justice of the Constitutional Court, was sworn in as interim president on Thursday.
Like Mr. Elfeqy, many of the Chicago protesters were born in Egypt and are afraid of the return of an autocratic government.
“God willing, [Morsi] is going to be reinstated, because this was the will of the people and this was the first-ever fair election that happened in the history of Egypt,” Fisal Hammouda, who left Egypt in the 1960s, told the Tribune. “The United States always says, ’We are for democracy.’ This is a fair election.”
Hundreds of Morsi supporters rallied outside Chicago’s Egyptian Consulate, reciting chants such as “Only president is Morsi,” the Tribune reported.
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• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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