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Dozens filled the Bernalillo County Planning Commission meeting Wednesday morning to speak out against a proposed mosque in the North Valley.

Arguments about noise and traffic gave way to concerns about polluting future generations and Sharia law inhabiting the historic agricultural neighborhoods.

When the commission deferred the proposal to July 1, requested by the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Islamic Center due to safety concerns, chants of "USA" erupted in the chambers.

Those in opposition then gathered outside Alvarado Square, many clad in cowboy hats and American flag shirts, to discuss the mosque proposed along Second Street, north of Alameda Boulevard. Some people said there should be fewer mosques in America, not more, as their comments merged into intolerance and hate speech.

The 45,000-square-foot mosque was approved with added conditions, including having proper drainage and no outside speaker system, by a county zoning administrator in early April. Weeks later, Pat Hauser, president of the Maria/Diers Neighborhood Association, filed an appeal asking the county to deny the conditional use permit.

In a June 3 recommendation, Zoning Administrator Maggie Gould said the appeal should be denied by the county's Board of Adjustment.

In the appeal, Hauser said the property is in conflict with the North Valley Area Plan, which emphasizes "low-density development," and the Cannabis Regulation Act, since the proposed mosque is near a dispensary and would have classrooms inside. Hauser said the possibility of excessive lighting and noise, and lack of storm drainage and traffic mitigation, "degrades our community's long-standing character and rural life style."

Hauser attached to the appeal the signatures of 58 property owners who oppose the development. He said he got the phone call that the matter was being deferred less than 24 hours before the meeting.

"My goal 鈥� is to keep it on a nondiscriminatory situation. I'm going to be ugly here, there's wingnuts out there that you know say and do things 鈥� that it's just going to be a problem," Hauser said. "We need to prevent it, so we don't have to go into damage control if somebody says or does something stupid, you know. You can't fix stupid with duct tape."

Backlash

Support for the appeal caught fire on social media and a post asked members of the public to come to the hearing and protest. Imam Talha Mohamed, of the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Islamic Center on Menaul, said they soon received threatening messages and calls.

Mohamed said they understood initial concerns of traffic and noise, and were willing to address those, but "the hate speech against us raised the concern that something could happen today."

"When you take it to the other level, like Islamophobia, and we start receiving phone calls and text messages like 'get out of our country鈥� this is a Christian nation' 鈥� this is something (that) raises the concern," he said.

Mohamed said he has never faced such vitriol since moving to sa国际传媒官网网页入口, including when they opened the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Islamic Center in 2018.

鈥淲e respect our neighbors, our neighbors respected us," Mohamed said. "That was shock for me, just to see this behavior in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, in New Mexico, that's something strange for us.鈥�

When North Valley neighbors first complained, he said they invited them to the mosque to see what it's like. He said the new mosque is needed since the current building is tight and they pray twice just to accommodate everyone.

Ahmad Assed, former president of the Islamic Center of New Mexico, said houses of worship have never been a negative. He said they raise property values and offer philanthropy and social services.

鈥淲e need places of worship, we need people to be closer to their faith, no matter what that faith is, we need to have people be able to go to a place they feel they belong," Assed said.

Assed said the ICNM, on Yale near Avenida C茅sar Ch谩vez, never faced such discrimination or pushback. He called the comments from the opposition 鈥渞eprehensible" and said the Muslim community should be extra vigilant.

鈥淲e will fight back in a way that is peaceful, in a way that is constructive, but we will not put up with any discriminatory or hateful actions," Assed said.

'Incompatible'

Outside of Alvarado Square, those whose voices weren't heard inside spoke amongst themselves.

North Valley resident Angel Shoats said she was concerned the mosque was 鈥渋ncompatible鈥� with the area, which she called 鈥渁 little bit of peace away from the craziness.鈥� She said, for her, it鈥檚 not about religion.

鈥淚 think if you take the word 鈥榤osque鈥� and use the word 鈥榤ega church,鈥� I think people would have pushback,鈥� Shoats said.

Renee Pacheco, who doesn鈥檛 live in the area, said she learned of the mosque on social media. Pacheco said the state already has about a dozen mosques.

鈥淭hey're about growing numbers and they're about coming into New Mexico and taking over. It's not just a peaceful religion, it's about having their way of life infiltrated into our ways,鈥� she said.

Ken Sanchez, a self-described 鈥渆asy country boy鈥� who has lived in the North Valley his whole life, compared the mosque to cannabis shops that have sprouted up in the area.

鈥淐ertainly, anything that comes into those communities can impact our next generation,鈥� Sanchez said. He added, 鈥渘ow I don't know what they have in their direction, but I don't need them proselyting.鈥�

Sanchez said he wouldn鈥檛 mind if it was a Walmart, because then he wouldn't have to drive across the river for groceries.

Joshua James Lawrence, candidate for state auditor, said he was 鈥渇ighting the same issue all over the country" and made exaggerated claims that appeared to conflate Islam with terrorism.

鈥淓verything this Christian nation was built on 鈥� they do not agree with it whatsoever and at any moment they will happily chop our heads off,鈥� he said, adding that "in the most extreme groups" children as young as 12 鈥渉ave already cut off a human head."

When asked if he disliked Muslims, Lawrence said he has friends who are Muslim, and one of his best friends is a refugee from Iran.

National reaction

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy organization,  condemned the rhetoric Thursday in a statement. 

鈥淓very faith community has the constitutional right to establish houses of worship free from discrimination, intimidation, or bigotry," the statement said. "Opposition to a mosque based on anti-Muslim prejudice is unacceptable and undermines the fundamental American principle of religious freedom.

 鈥淧ublic officials and community leaders should reject rhetoric that demonizes Muslims and instead foster respectful dialogue rooted in facts, mutual understanding, and equal treatment under the law. Muslims are an integral part of the fabric of this nation and deserve the same rights and respect afforded to followers of every other faith," it concluded.