- The Washington Times - Friday, May 8, 2015

Bill O’Reilly said Thursday that the “Draw the Prophet” event that was attacked last Sunday in Garland, Texas, was wrong in part because “Jesus would not have sponsored that event.”

The “O’Reilly Factor” host has repeatedly criticized the event, which was targeted by Elton Simpson, 31, and Nadir Soofi, 34. Both men died in a shootout with police on May 3.

“The goal of every decent person in the world should be to defeat the jihad. And in order to do that you have to rally the world to the side of good — our side. The emotional displays, like insulting the Prophet Muhammad, make it more difficult to rally law-abiding Muslims,” Mr. O’Reilly said, Mediaite reported Thursday.

American Freedom Defense Initiative President Pamela Geller asserted that the contest, which awarded $10,000 to the best cartoon of the Muslim prophet, is necessary to make free people realize what is at stake.

“I will continue to speak in defense of freedom until the day I die. […] Cartoons are political critique. It’s a cartoon. Is that what we want to outlaw? We want to outlaw humor? We want to outlaw comedy? If you want to know who rules over you, find out who you cannot criticize,” Ms. Geller told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Mr. O’Reilly added the the contest was emotional in nature. He likened it to the decision by any conservative American who stayed home during the 2008 and 2012 elections.

• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.

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