Zombie Muhammad? Atheist Attacked by Muslim During Halloween Parade

A Muslim attacked an Atheist marching in a local Pennsylvania Halloween parade Tuesday for wearing a “Zombie Muhammad” costume.

The Muslim man stormed out of the hometown crowd in Mechanicsburg and assaulted one of the Parading Atheists of Central Pennsylvania (PACP) who happened to be wearing the offending costume.  The atheist in the Zombie Muhammad costume proclaimed he was the Prophet Muhammad, risen from the dead.

This proclamation and costume apparently offended the Muslim man enough to come out of the crowd, follow and harass the atheist, and then choke him.  Subsequently, a police report was filed, and charges in the matter are pending.

The victim posted a video of the incident on YouTube, and in the description he writes:

Oct 11 2011 in the Machanicsburg City Parade I was attacked by a violent muslim IN AMERICA! This is proof that muslims want Sharia Law in America. He attacks me to pull my beard off so he could identify me and chokes me.

I understand many will say I deserved it, but no one has the right to abridge my freedom of speech and violence is never the answer to freedom of speech. Islam is a religion of Peace? not the case here.

Of course, some are questioning the wisdom of marching in a parade to intentionally offend a religious group, as well as the public relations value of such an activity.  The intent, however, may not have necessarily been to offend, but merely to treat a sensitive issue with satire.  Indeed, there was also a “Zombie Pope” who marched in the Halloween parade while claiming to be on the look out for little boys.  Then again, many Catholics may have found that image quite offensive.

What do you think about Zombie Muhammad marching in a Halloween parade?