A burka-clad woman was dramatically removed from a Florida community meeting after refusing to stop playing the Islamic call to prayer over a microphone, despite being told to turn it off.
The woman, who identified herself as Celine Al Jamal, was escorted from a Pinellas County Commission meeting on Tuesday as residents gathered to protest the expansion of a neighborhood mosque, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
During nearly two hours of public testimony, Al Jamal approached the podium dressed entirely in black, with a mesh screen concealing her face and only her left eye barely visible.
Rather than making a verbal statement, she played a recording of the Islamic call to prayer, known as the Adhan, which summons Muslims to the mosque to perform the five daily prayers.
She stood silently as the sound of a flute and a voice speaking in Arabic echoed through the room for nearly a minute, until Board Chairman Dave Eggers cut in.
'Ma’am, you’re going to have to stop… stop the music, stop the tape,' he said.
A fellow board member reminded Al Jamal that the public comment period was meant for people to address commissioners in their own voice, rather than play pre-recorded audio.
But the interruptions appeared to do little to deter her, as she continued playing the recording while her visible left eye scanned the commissioners and audience.
A burka-clad woman was dramatically removed from a Florida community meeting after refusing to stop playing the Islamic call to prayer over a microphone on Tuesday
A photo taken after her removal showed the woman, who identified herself as Celine Al Jamal, sitting on a curb as three officers stood around her, seemingly taking her statement
'Stop the tape, ma’am,' Eggers said again before ordering officials to escort her away from the microphone.
'Just escort [her] out,' he added. 'Enough! Enough!'
Two uniformed men approached and dragged her from the meeting as audience members heckled her and others shouted over Eggers’ decision.
‘Tase her,’ one person yelled. Another shouted, ‘Shave your legs!’ As Al Jamal was led through the doors, a third resident called out: ‘Jesus is our savior!’
Many in the room applauded and filmed the chaotic scene on their phones.
Eggers then appealed for calm, telling those in the room: 'Please. Just please exercise some decorum and kindness of your own. We’re all people living together here.'
'We don’t allow taped things. You can record the meeting, but we don’t allow taped activity like that. We ask you to come here and make comments, and that was not a comment,' he added. 'That’s why she was asked to step out.'
A photo taken after her removal showed Al Jamal sitting on a curb as three officers stood around her, seemingly taking her statement.
Board Chairman Dave Eggers (pictured right) reminded the woman that the public comment period was meant for people to address commissioners in their own voice, rather than play audio
The interruptions appeared to do little to deter her, as she continued playing the recording while her visible left eye scanned the commissioners and audience
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that she was escorted from the premises without further incident and would not face criminal charges, Fox reported
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that she was escorted from the premises without further incident and would not face criminal charges, according to Fox News.
The chaos unfolded as residents voiced concerns about a proposed mosque expansion, including objections to the wording of zoning documents and the meeting agenda.
Earlier this month, the county commission voted 4-3 to approve a land-use amendment for Masjid Al Rahman, a mosque on a 2.69-acre property at 2577 Keystone Road in East Lake.
The mosque, which has operated from a home since the 1990s, pursued plans for a larger facility this year. The commission’s latest vote paved the way for the existing structure to be demolished and replaced with one 1,000 feet larger.
County officials described the project as a 'community assembly facility' rather than a mosque, prompting Commissioner Vince Nowicki to question at Tuesday's meeting why it had not been described in plain language.
'Residents read these materials to understand what is being proposed near them, and they should get the same plain description in every case, no matter the applicant,' he wrote in an email to the county administrator, The Print reported.
Others opposed the proposed facility by raising concerns about women’s rights in Muslim-majority countries, with one person declaring: 'Islam is not good for women’s rights.'
'It is about the big picture and the long term,' the unidentified woman told the audience, according to a transcript of the meeting.
The scene unfolded as residents voiced concerns about a proposed expansion to Masjid Al Rahman mosque in East Lake, which has operated from a home since the 1990s (pictured)
Eggers (pictured) appealed for calm, telling those in the room: 'Please. Just please exercise some decorum and kindness of your own. We’re all people living together here'
'By allowing this mosque to expand in our area, you are participating in the expansion of a totalitarian ideology which is fundamentally opposed to Western American values. Expansion of the ideology of Islam is not good for women's rights.'
Meanwhile, others supported the mosque. One woman told the commission: 'They want to turn it to face Mecca, and they want it to look a little more like a mosque instead of a house.'
'We have no problems with them,' she added. 'We've been their neighbors for many years.'
