New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority to Run an Anti-Islam Ad Campaign it Finds ‘Demeaning’
Ad campaign by the American Freedom Initiative set to run in New York City’s subway next week (Photo: The American Freedom Defense Initiative)
Next Monday, New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority will run an ad campaign that it finds “demeaning”.
The ad is the work of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, a group that fought the construction of a mosque near the World Trade Center.
It reads: “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.” And it concludes “Support Israel. Defeat jihad.”
WNYC’s “Transportation Nation” reporter Jim O’Grady says the MTA lost their court fight against posting this ad because a judge ruled that their rejecting it on grounds that it is “demeaning” had violated the group’s First Amendment rights.
The MTA issued this statement:
“The MTA sells advertising space to raise revenue to support mass transit operations. MTA’s existing policy for ads carried on subways, buses and trains permits both commercial and non-commercial paid advertisements. MTA does not decide whether to allow a proposed advertisement based upon its viewpoint and the MTA does not endorse the viewpoint in this or any other paid advertisement. MTA is currently reviewing its policy of accepting non-commercial viewpoint advertisements.”