A 9/11 counter demonstration, in which 2 million bikers were to ride "non-stop" through Washington DC to protest a march by the American Muslim Political Action Committee (AMPAC), has been denied a permit, according to the Washington Times.
First announced in January, the date of the AMPAC protest, originally called the “Million Muslim March” but subsequently renamed the “Million American March Against Fear”, sparked outrage when it was revealed.
AMPAC, a fringe group led by Rabbi Alam, a known 9/11 truther who has espoused anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about the New York attacks, said in a statement that the event was designed to reveal the “truth” about 9/11 and highlight the "media propaganda" that has made the word terrorist "synonymous with Muslim".
The bikers wanted to ride through Washington "non-stop"
In opposition to the march, a group called "2 million bikers to DC" was set up to "remember the victims of 9/11 and to honour our armed forces who fought those who precipitated this attack". A Facebook page supporting the bikers has so far gained 84,000 followers. A similar page for the “Million American March Against Fear” boasts 214 followers.
However, the bikers group announced on Sunday that a request to ride "non-stop" through the capital (not stopping for red lights) had been denied by DC officials due to limited police resources. As such, the bikers will still ride, but will have to stop, transforming a “one or two hour ride into an all-day event”.
Reported by the Washington Post, the biker group said in a statement: “We did the right thing and went through the proper channels to secure a no-stop permit to ride through your great city. We wanted to ride an established route, which would have taken us past the Vietnam Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial, across the bridge into Virginia, and that’s it! We would have been completely out of Washington DC, and your city would have been back to normal.”