Nathan Koppel reports: As authorities continue to investigate an attempted attack on a contest to draw the Prophet Muhammad in Texas on Sunday, the winner of the event has retreated into hiding, saying he faces persistent death threats.
Bosch Fawstin netted $12,500 for winning the contest’s grand prize as well as the “People’s Choice Award” for his drawing depicting Muhammad wielding a sword and saying, “you can’t draw me!”
In an interview on Tuesday, the cartoonist was vague about his whereabouts, saying only that he lives somewhere in the U.S.
“I don’t want to say where,” Mr. Fawstin said, also declining to say his age. “There are Muslims out there who want to kill me.”
He has drawn a comic book called “Pigman,” featuring a hero who battles “pigotry” and his arch nemesis, SuperJihad. He said he has also drawn several dozen cartoon renderings of the Islamic prophet.
“I do it because we have been told we can’t,” he said. “I’m not just provoking people for the hell of it.…Provocation is freedom of speech—it’s not separate from it.”
The Muhammad art competition in Garland, Texas, was hosted by the American Freedom Defense Initiative. Some 200 people attended the event according to a participant… (read more)
WSJ
Write to Nathan Koppel at nathan.koppel@wsj.com
Bosch Fawstin netted $12,500 for winning the contest’s grand prize as well as the “People’s Choice Award” for his drawing depicting Muhammad wielding a sword and saying, “you can’t draw me!”
In an interview on Tuesday, the cartoonist was vague about his whereabouts, saying only that he lives somewhere in the U.S.
[read the full text here, at WSJ]
“I don’t want to say where,” Mr. Fawstin said, also declining to say his age. “There are Muslims out there who want to kill me.”
He has drawn a comic book called “Pigman,” featuring a hero who battles “pigotry” and his arch nemesis, SuperJihad. He said he has also drawn several dozen cartoon renderings of the Islamic prophet.
“I do it because we have been told we can’t,” he said. “I’m not just provoking people for the hell of it.…Provocation is freedom of speech—it’s not separate from it.”
The Muhammad art competition in Garland, Texas, was hosted by the American Freedom Defense Initiative. Some 200 people attended the event according to a participant… (read more)
WSJ
Write to Nathan Koppel at nathan.koppel@wsj.com
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