Vigil Planned at Burned Murfreesboro Mosque Site

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - A candlelight vigil is being organized to protest the burning of construction equipment at the site of a planned new mosque in Murfreesboro.

Middle Tennesseans for Religious Freedom announced the vigil on its Facebook page. It will take place Monday at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford County Courthouse.

The group formed earlier this year to show support for the new mosque and Murfreesboro's Muslim community. Group leaders previously organized a counter-protest when mosque opponents marched on the courthouse in July demanding approval for the new mosque be rescinded.

Many of the mosque opponents at that demonstration expressed a fear that Muslims want to overthrow the government and bring Islamic law to the U.S.

On Saturday, four pieces of heavy equipment at the construction site were doused with an accelerant and one set ablaze. Kevin Fisher, the organizer of the July protest, said denounced what he termed "vigilantism."