‘Don’t Cancel’ — NYPD Watches as Queens Muslims Come Out for City Ceremony Honoring Faith Center Day After New Zealand Mosque Massacre
Terrorism suffered a defeat at midday Friday, as NYPD Officer Shawqi Ahmed removed his shoes and knelt on one of the caprets spread on the sidewalk outside the Jamaica Muslim Center In Queens.
Dozens of worshipers knelt along with him and there were many more inside. An overflow crowd had assembled for the formal renaming of this block of 168th Street to JMC Way.
The event had taken on sudden added significance with word of the mass shootings during Friday midday prayers at two mosques on the other side of the world, a 17-hour time difference away. The organizers of the street renaming event had called the NYPD to ask if they should cancel.