VA: 9/11 MEMORIAL THREATENED BY MUSLIMS - TAKEN FROM PUBLIC VIEW
WECOME TO VIRGINISTAN.
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The Dust Cries Out, a statue created by Fairfax County artist Karen Swenholt.--Courtesy Photo**
(Islamic) Threat topples 9/11 statue
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Source: Fairfax County Times
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 2008
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/news/2008/sep/25/threat-topples-911-statue/
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/news/2008/sep/25/threat-topples-911-statue/
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A Fairfax County sculptor who created a statue as a memorial to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks has received a threatening note, complaints from neighbors, and was told by the Virginia Department of Transportation to take the memorial down.
Karen Swenholt's 9-foot-tall statue, called "The Dust Cries Out," depicts two nude victims – a man and a woman – rising from the ashes of the Twin Towers, their arms outstretched toward the heavens.
She originally placed the statue near her home on Great Falls Street in the Falls Church area of Fairfax County on a VDOT-maintained right-of-way that she claims she obtained permission for, on Sept. 8.
On September 10, around 6 p.m., she found an anonymous note housed in a plastic bag attached to the sculpture that read as though it was written by Muslim radicals.
"If we were to put a statue of Allah with his tears because of your wars, you would burn it to the ground ... you will take this down today or we will do this," it read.
"I call it the Taliban note," Swenholt told The Times.
She then called Fairfax County Police and says she was told by police that the threat could not be investigated as a hate crime because it "was against Americans and would not work." She says police believed the threat "was strong and dramatic" and that she should keep an eye on the sculpture and contact them if anyone approached it.
"I sat in my car that night with my dog and a fire extinguisher," Swenholt said. "Fortunately, nothing happened."
On Sept. 12, the Fairfax County Permits Division of VDOT contacted Swenholt to tell her that she did not have a permit to keep the statue on VDOT land.
"The piece of property she used is actually part of the Interstate 66 right-of-way and requires a permit for its use, which she does not have," said VDOT spokesman William Dunlap. "She can apply for it but if she is looking for a permanent display place, then the right-of-way would probably not be the right choice."
Said Swenholt: "I didn't have a permit, but I had called someone at VDOT whom I was referred to as someone with authority. That person, who I'd rather not name, even went so far as to prepare the land and send a crew out to prep the land so that the sculpture would not be sitting in weeds."
Julie Ide, a staff aide of Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust, said she contacted VDOT after a constituent walked into Foust's office that week, complaining about the statue's nudity. "I called Mr. Dunlap to find out the procedure, and he said he had also received some complaints," she said.
Swenholt has now removed the statue from the VDOT land and has it in her driveway, covered with a tarp. She says she may move it to her indoor gallery. Many of her neighbors are sad that the memorial has been moved from its public, outdoor location.
"It was wonderful and really spoke to the heart," said Mary Frances Moriarty, 78, who has lived in the area since 1961. "Whoever complained about it really has too little to do."
Karen Swenholt's 9-foot-tall statue, called "The Dust Cries Out," depicts two nude victims – a man and a woman – rising from the ashes of the Twin Towers, their arms outstretched toward the heavens.
She originally placed the statue near her home on Great Falls Street in the Falls Church area of Fairfax County on a VDOT-maintained right-of-way that she claims she obtained permission for, on Sept. 8.
On September 10, around 6 p.m., she found an anonymous note housed in a plastic bag attached to the sculpture that read as though it was written by Muslim radicals.
"If we were to put a statue of Allah with his tears because of your wars, you would burn it to the ground ... you will take this down today or we will do this," it read.
"I call it the Taliban note," Swenholt told The Times.
She then called Fairfax County Police and says she was told by police that the threat could not be investigated as a hate crime because it "was against Americans and would not work." She says police believed the threat "was strong and dramatic" and that she should keep an eye on the sculpture and contact them if anyone approached it.
"I sat in my car that night with my dog and a fire extinguisher," Swenholt said. "Fortunately, nothing happened."
On Sept. 12, the Fairfax County Permits Division of VDOT contacted Swenholt to tell her that she did not have a permit to keep the statue on VDOT land.
"The piece of property she used is actually part of the Interstate 66 right-of-way and requires a permit for its use, which she does not have," said VDOT spokesman William Dunlap. "She can apply for it but if she is looking for a permanent display place, then the right-of-way would probably not be the right choice."
Said Swenholt: "I didn't have a permit, but I had called someone at VDOT whom I was referred to as someone with authority. That person, who I'd rather not name, even went so far as to prepare the land and send a crew out to prep the land so that the sculpture would not be sitting in weeds."
Julie Ide, a staff aide of Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust, said she contacted VDOT after a constituent walked into Foust's office that week, complaining about the statue's nudity. "I called Mr. Dunlap to find out the procedure, and he said he had also received some complaints," she said.
Swenholt has now removed the statue from the VDOT land and has it in her driveway, covered with a tarp. She says she may move it to her indoor gallery. Many of her neighbors are sad that the memorial has been moved from its public, outdoor location.
"It was wonderful and really spoke to the heart," said Mary Frances Moriarty, 78, who has lived in the area since 1961. "Whoever complained about it really has too little to do."
posted by jillosophy at 9/26/2008 04:51:00 PM
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