OLBERMANN:
Good evening from
New York
. The political background of the alleged assailant is confused and even contradictory. He worked as a volunteer videographer for a
religious group
which supported the
Park 51 Islamic
community center
in
New York
and he may -- and he did say that he had just returned from
Afghanistan
, making a film there about a
high school
friend in the
U.S. military
-- was apparently deeply concerned about the people and the war there. While circumstances would suggest he may have been influenced by the
Islamophobic
hysteria of the last month, there are indications in the fast moving story that he may, in fact, have been more influenced by large amounts of alcohol.
Regardless, in our fifth story tonight:
21-year-old
Michael Enright
got into a
New York City
taxi last night, asked the driver if he was Muslim, got an affirmative answer, and then allegedly slashed the driver with a knife across the neck, face and shoulders. First,
Michael Enright
, who was today arraigned on charges of attempted murder two, as a
hate crime
and other related charges, the circumstances of his alleged crimes chilling in their own right. at approximately 6:14 last night, 24th street and
2nd Avenue
, the 21-year-old
Enright
got into the cab of a driver who was subsequently identified as
Ahmed Sharif
, a 43-year-old, male. According to Mr.
Sharif
's statement, Mr.
Enright
began asking friendly questions, quoting that statement, "Where he, Mr.
Sharif
, was from, how long he'd been in
America
, if he was a Muslim, and if he was observing fast during
Ramadan
." Implicit in Mr.
Sharif
's statement and confirmed by the
NYPD
, Mr.
Sharif
responded that he was, indeed, a Muslim. Returning to Mr.
Sharif
's statement, quoting, "He, Mr.
Enright
, then first became silent for a few minutes then suddenly started cursing and screaming. He yelled "Assalamu Alaikum. Consider this a checkpoint," and then slashed Mr.
Sharif
across the neck. As Mr.
Sharif
went to knock the knife out, the perpetrator continuing to scream loudly cut the
taxi driver
in the face, from nose to upper lip, arm and hand."
Assalamu Alaikum
, a common Islamic greeting meaning "Peace be with you." Mr.
Sharif
called 911, stopped the cab and reportedly locked Mr.
Enright
inside until police arrive. Both men were initially taken to
Bellevue Hospital
in
New York
. Police say Mr.
Enright
was highly intoxicated, friends of his telling "
Talking Points Memo
" he has a drinking problem.
Enright
was later charged with the aforementioned
hate crimes
. Mr.
Sharif
is now recovering and in stable condition. Another portion of his statement, "I feel very sad. I have been here more than 25 years. I have been driving a taxi more than 15 years. All my four kids were born here. I never feel this hopeless and insecure before. Right now, the public sentiment is very serious, because of the
Ground Zero
mosque debate. All drivers should be more careful." The
New York City Taxi Workers Alliance
, along with Mr.
Sharif
, will hold a news conference tomorrow morning to call for an end of the bigotry and anti-Islamic rhetoric in the debate around the
Park 51 Islamic
cultural center
, it says. Now, to Mr.
Enright
, and potentially bizarre amplification of his alleged crimes with a caveat that the information is still unfolding from various sources, much of this stems from a
Facebook
page. Mr.
Enright
was reportedly a volunteer worker for
Intersections International
, a multi- faith, multicultural organization which has publicly supported what is now known as the
Park
51
cultural center
. The executive director of the
Intersections International
is saying, quote, 'If this is the same
Michael Enright
who has worked with
Intersections
, this is totally out of his character." Mr.
Enright
has also reportedly made a film about the experience of a
high school
friend, a Marine serving in
Afghanistan
. Mr.
Enright
said he had been there recently for that purpose and there was indeed a film for which he was heavily attempting to get publicity. And now to this -- what might have been, what still could be one of the anecdotes to the kind of hate engendered by the hysterical opponents of
Park
51. More on Mr.
Enright
in the moment. But, first, the rally today by family members of 9/11 victims in support of that
Islamic center
. More on that in a moment. And last night, once again calling out the lie of any so-called compromise on this issue,
New York City
Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
speaking at an
Iftar
dinner.
MAYOR
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG
(I), NEW
YORK
: There are people of every faith -- including perhaps some in this room -- who are hoping that a compromise will end the debate. But it won't. The question will then become: how big should the no-
Mosque
zone be around the
World Trade Center site
? There's already a mosque four blocks away. Should it be moved?
This is a test
of our commitment to
American values
. And we have to have the courage of our convictions.
OLBERMANN:
Back to the subject of
Michael Enright
.
Enright
was trying to get publicity for that documentary. He had reached out to at least one reporter, wound up talking to her five times, trading e-mails with her.
Katy Tur
of our
NBC
station here in
New York
,
WNBC
, who joins us now from
Queens
.
Katy
, describe what impression you had of his demeanor, stability, temperament -- who was this guy?
KATY TUR, WNBC REPORTER:
You know, I got to tell you, the first time I spoke to this guy, I was struck by how incredibly polite he was. He was "yes, ma'am," "no, ma'am," very polite on the phone. Just wanted to get a point across of how he feels that soldiers really aren't getting enough attention back in the
United States
. And, basically, he was trying to get me to do a story on him on his documentary. He basically followed a family
childhood friend
as he enlisted, trained and then was sent off to
Afghanistan
. He was there for about six weeks. And when he came back he started editing the film. And the inter -- what's it called --
OLBERMANN:
Intersections International.
TUR:
Intersections International -- thank you -- contacted me and they said, we have this kid,
Mike Enright
. He's very talented and I think you'd be interested in the story. And so, that's basically how I got in contact with him.
OLBERMANN:
Did you get impressions from this? He'd been in
Afghanistan
, at least he said he was, and the film would be evidence of that. Did you get any impression after he e-mailed you about a story that you had done on this
Park
51 controversy? Did you get any sense that he was opposed to
Muslims
or Afghans or the project or anything about it?
TUR:
Well, the story has been the biggest story in
New York
for some time now.
And I
've done it a number of times. And after one I did just a few days ago, I got an e-mail from Mr.
Enright
that said, "Hey, I really appreciate your story on the mosque, I think you did a good job, I hope to hear from you soon."
And I
never got an impression that he was anti-Muslim in any way. I did feel like -- I heard from a friend of his that he had a very intense experience in
Afghanistan
, but not that he had a negative impressions of
Muslims
. You can see pictures that he posted up on
Flickr
with little
Afghani
children. So, the idea he's anti-Muslim came as real shock to those who knew him. Certainly it's a surprise to me who -- because he seemed extraordinarily stable, at least on the phone, from the times that I spoke to him.
OLBERMANN:
So, when the executive director of the group says, if this is the
Michael Enright
who has worked with
Intersections
, this is totally out of his character. Based on your limited interaction with him, do you agree with that statement?
TUR:
I would love to say that it's totally based -- not in his character. But I -- from the limited interaction that I have had with him, I really couldn't tell you that. He was very polite on the phone. He was very nice. He just wanted to get his point across that the
Afghanistan war
is not being paid enough attention in the media and in the
United States
. He really wanted to create more of a dialogue between civilians and veterans. He was working with families of fallen victims. I got the impression he really wanted to get out the words of soldiers, not necessarily that he had anything against
Muslims
or their faith. So, this came as a surprise certainly to me, but certainly more so to those who knew them.
OLBERMANN:
My dear friend
Katy Tur
of
WNBC
in
New York
-- good work, great thanks.
TUR:
Thank you,
Keith
.
OLBERMANN:
Let's bring in the president of the
New York
chapter of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations
,
Zead Ramadan
. Thanks for your time tonight, sir.
ZEAD RAMADAN, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS:
My pleasure,
Keith
.
OLBERMANN:
Obviously, it will be charged as a
hate crime
. Are there other explanations for this? If the man had a drinking problem, if he'd just back from
Afghanistan
and was trying to promote coverage of the wars and veterans and ally veterans with civilians -- could there be another explanation for this?
RAMADAN:
You know, this is very puzzling. Whether consciously or subconsciously, this gentleman started slashing away at someone after he asked him if he was a Muslim. So, that was a direct -- that was a direct connect.
My theory is -- and my question is really:
what made him tick? Is all this horrible rhetoric that's out there these days really causing people to turn from, you know, freedom of expression, to violence?
OLBERMANN:
Is -- what do you -- how do you -- how do you approach this from your point of view and from the important issue that is at hand here, which is this late surge of
Islamophobia
? If, in fact, this is not somebody who is otherwise
Islamophobic
, but perhaps was -- just -- who knows, posttraumatic stress disorder, I don't want to try to diagnose him here.
RAMADAN:
Right.
OLBERMANN:
We'll be doing that for the next few days. But, obviously, this is a very nuanced story. It's more than just some guy -- the stuff we've seen at mosques around the
country
and the naked stupid hatred of the fellow in
Kentucky
who said a
Baptist church
next door to his flower shop would be fine because the
Baptists
would respect parking zones and
Muslims
would not. It's not that kind of story.
RAMADAN:
No, these are pathetic excuses for the hatred and the fearmongering that's been, you know, spewed over the area, you got to stop the
Islamization
of
America
with
Robert Spencer
, who's basically our
modern day
Jim Jones
. And he's poisoning people over the
Internet
. And, unfortunately, these people who think they're on his side, he's throwing him under the bus. And they're making these ridiculous comments and they're going out there and they're attacking
Muslims
. In
Brooklyn
, just a couple of months ago, there was a Bangladeshi man on a construction -- he was a construction worker on a break from lunch and he was approached by three teens. And they asked him, are you a Muslim? And he said, yes, and they said go back to your bleeping
country
. Then they attacked him. And the man was in a coma.
OLBERMANN:
Right.
RAMADAN:
He's currently out of a job, can't support his children. But this is the kind of rhetoric. And now, these are teens. They could not be prosecuted as adults. I'm telling you, teens, how are these teens being affected by the rhetoric and hate and fearmongering that they're listening to on the net, over the air?
OLBERMANN:
But it would be irony if this man became representative of all the bad that's going where he was perhaps not guilty of it in that same way.
RAMADAN:
Unfortunately.
OLBERMANN:
Let me ask you something positive about this.
RAMADAN:
Sure.
OLBERMANN:
The mayor of the city of
New York
forcefully asserted himself last night into this event. And restated his opinion that compromise is by itself a defeat of
religious freedom
and what this
country
is about.
RAMADAN:
Right.
OLBERMANN:
Don't we need -- I think
Mayor Bloomberg
has shined in this occasion in a way perhaps he never has before -- but don't we need, desperately need other leaders of all faiths and political stripes to step up in the same way?
RAMADAN:
You know,
Keith
, I was there last night and it was a very moving speech. Once again, you know,
Mayor Bloomberg
's a student of history and he knows he wants to stand on the right side of history once it's told years from now. He does not want to stand on the side of
McCarthy
. He wants to stand on the side of
Ben Franklin
and
Thomas Jefferson
and
George Washington
-- the people who worked for decades to create and ratify a
Constitution
to protect all
Americans
, all
Americans
, negligent of their religion, race or creed.
And I
think he's doing an honorable job. I just wish --
and I
heard you talk about it and I completely agree with you. I think some
Democrats
have to step up and some people just have to step up and say, listen, I'm going to be on the right side of history here. I don't want to be person who's remembered as a persecutor of my own -- of my own people, my fellow
Americans
.
OLBERMANN:
Zead Ramadan
,
New York
chapter of
Council
on
American- Islamic Relations
-- good luck with
“ ”