The Westboro Baptist "Church", a notorious religiously inspired hate group, protested today at American University, and then moved to a nearby synagogue as Shabbat service was about to begin. The protesters were mainly targeting American University for its acceptance of LGBT students, in particular their policies surrounding bathrooms. Students are allowed to use the bathroom they prefer, and additional non-gender bathrooms are available. Without much explanation, they also continued to protest Jewish people simply for being Jewish. American University has a notably large Jewish population. A police officer insists that News2Share's Ford Fischer has to stand on one side or the other of the sidewalk dividing protesters and counter-protesters. When he choose to film from the Westboro protesters' vantage point, the officer forcibly pushed him away and claiming he's "going to be a problem" despite having a congressional press pass. His supervisor then confirmed the same sentiment. Please contact Ford Fischer at fordfischer@news2share.com or call (573) 575-NEWS to license video. Photos and additional footage may be available upon request. See more at http://News2share.com ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C9euDULdTQ

Gun owners - many visibly armed - rallied in old Town Albuquerque today to openly defy the New Mexico Governor's Executive Order banning the open and concealed carry of firearms there as a one-month "emergency." Police did not intervene or enforce the order. No violence occurred. One speaker told the crowd that they need to go out and do this every day, or else it wouldn't have an impact. While the police didn't enforce the order, it includes a $5000 fine for violators. One apparent anti-gun protester was yelled at, but then invited by the speaker to say his piece on the stage. The crowd yelled at him for wearing a mask and applauded him when he took it off. He expressed concern about gun violence in schools, which the speaker and crowd retorted by suggesting that arming veterans and well-trained teachers at schools would be a deterrent against active shooters. Filmed by Daniel Montaño for News2Share NO REUSE WITHOUT PERMISSION Please contact Ford Fischer at fordfischer@news2share.com or call (573) 575-NEWS to license video. Photos and additional footage may be available upon request. Support News2Share on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FordFischer Special Thanks to Patreon Contributors Jessica M and Judith Lucca Shane See more at http://News2share.com ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhfTLZwGdB8

"We will never surrender our children!" chanted a Muslim-led coalition of parents Tuesday afternoon outside the Montgomery County School Board (Maryland) as they rallied again for an opt-out option from LGBT material. Things became briefly tense as Muslim-led activists supporting opt-out were angered that an equal number of pro-LGBT activists were being escorted into the school board meeting in spite of the opt-out side having significantly greater participants. "Shame on you!" they chanted. Zainab Chaudry, Maryland Director for the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) said that the push for an opt-out option from LGBT material is "not a campaign from our perspective that's rooted in hatred and bigotry and divisiveness." "It is a campaign that's rooted in inclusivity. This is not a campaign to ban books from the school system," she says. "Parents just sincerely want to be able to have the right to opt their children out of content that conflicts with their sincerely held religious beliefs and that's the perspective that we're here today to support." One activist counter-protesting against the opt-out said he supports the "more inclusive curriculum." "The purpose of public education is to have graduates who are fully prepared to face the world as it exists, not as they would like it," he said. "So by excluding children from lessons where they learn about families that don't look like theirs, you're having graduates who are unprepared for the world as it is." Ismail Royer, Director for Islam at Religious Freedom Institute, says his org came to support "an exemption from this policy which would require students to sit through instruction that violates their parents' moral values." He rejects the idea that the material only shows different lifestyles and says he believes the material is "usurping and taking over the role of the parent in teaching morality." A parent who supports the new MCPS curriculum and opposes opt-out says that there's never been an opt-out for materials that inclusively portray different type of families, only from sex ed. "We know that students do the best and learn the best and have the most empathy and compassion for each other when they understand each other, each other's communities and families." "I want to see everyone here today represented in the curriculum." Filmed by New2Share Contributor TJ Jones NO REUSE WITHOUT PERMISSION Please contact Ford Fischer at fordfischer@news2share.com or call (573) 575-NEWS to license video. Photos and additional footage may be available upon request. Support News2Share on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FordFischer Special Thanks to Patreon Contributors Jessica M and Judith Lucca Shane See more at http://News2share.com ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yJPaa0qN8o

Filmed by Alejandro Alvarez Please contact Ford Fischer at fordfischer@news2share.com or call (573) 575-NEWS to license video. Photos and additional footage may be available upon request. Support News2Share on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FordFischer Special Thanks to Patreon Contributors Richard Graham, Robert Caputo, and Lee Enochs See more at http://News2share.com ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p87xXu2NrPk