Officials: Anti-Muslim images are protected speech

Two Minnesota prosecutors have decided not to file charges against a man who authorities say admitted posting anti-Muslim images near a mosque and a Somali-owned store, saying the cartoons are protected under the First Amendment.

The posters put up last month in the St. Cloud area depicted the Prophet Muhammad engaged in bestiality and other obscene images, and an Islamic crescent with a swastika inside it. While some in the community say there should be legal consequences, the chief prosecutors in both counties where the cartoons were found said they must be considered free speech.

Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall called it a "classic First Amendment case."

"Religious criticism is protected under the First Amendment, even if the criticism is misguided and offensive," Benton County Attorney Robert Raupp told The Associated Press. "This individual articulated to the police his criticisms of Islam, and that's what he was trying to convey here."

St. Cloud Police Sgt. Martin Sayre said the man told investigators he downloaded the cartoons off the Internet. The man has not been identified, and Raupp said he has not hired a lawyer.

City attorney Jan Petersen said his office is analyzing the case and could still charge the man with a simple misdemeanor. Mayor Dave Kleis said he thinks the man should face legal consequences.

"When people do something like this, they're doing it because they want to create some kind of reaction," Kleis said. "So they should be ready for the consequences."

Mohamoud Mohamed, who leads the St. Cloud Area Somali Salvation Organization, said the cartoons demonstrate a violent mindset and that the city's sizable Somali population would be disappointed if the man avoids charges. He said it would at least allow Muslim members of the community the chance to educate him.

"To make him better understand how things are related, and who we worship and things like that, will be very helpful for a person like this," Mohamed said.

St. Cloud has struggled for years to quell occasional flare-ups of racial and religious bias, most recently when someone scrawled a series of swastikas in public spots around the campus of St. Cloud State University in late 2007 and early 2008.

In that case, authorities said a freshman student confessed. But Petersen, the city attorney, said at the time that his actions were protected by the First Amendment and did not merit charges.

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations intends to hold a community meeting in St. Cloud this month to discuss the most recent incident. Kleis said he agreed to co-sponsor the event. "We need to be a respectful, welcoming city for all," he said.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)