TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- A woman who says it was her son was one of the people in a photo that was taken of a group of Muslim men praying on a Wakulla beach. Vanessa More says her son is now being harassed and stalked online because of the controversy the photo has sparked.
Moore, who is a Christian, explained that her son, "never wanted to be in anyone's spotlight. He was just at a barbecue trying to find peace."
Wakulla County Commissioner Ralph Thomas snapped a picture of the group praying and posted it to a Facebook group with the caption,"Walked up on this at Mashes Sands this evening! First time seeing this in Wakulla County."
The ensuing debate on Facebook, that also carried over to a county commission meeting, has sparked a lot of controversy and debate.
Thomas said that the conversation needed to happen, "Maybe we can find out that we have differences and set them aside and find common ground maybe we can set them aside these differences these fears."
However, Moore says a lot of hatred has come out about the photo. "So are you going to make every Muslim carry a card that says 'I'm a good citizen', 'I'm not affiliated with ISIS', 'I just want to pray'? Or are you going to make places that say 'stay off our beaches'."
Moore says that she is outraged over comments made at the meeting by sheriff's candidate Will Dance on Monday.
Dance, who is also a radio host for Freedom 93.3, took the day off from his show Wednesday, because he too has been receiving threats. Station management expected him to return to the air on Thursday.
Mostly, Moore thinks the whole situation has been blown out of proportion and is just frightened for everyone involved after threats were made to both sides.
