The Week in Sharia: America Dodges a Bullet

What just happened:

• Nearly 20 states have considered legislation to ban Sharia since the start of 2010—and more than half of those bills were based on the work of one man: Arizona-based attorney David Yerushalmi. So who is Yerushalmi? And how did his work spread so widely? Read my story here.
• Meg Stalcup and Joshua Craze have your long-read of the week over at Washington Monthly. It’s called “How we Train Our Cops to Fear Islam,” and it’s about exacty that. I have nothing snarky to say about it; just read the piece. While you’re at it, check out Justin Elliott‘s explainer on what Sharia law actually is.
• This footage from an anti-Islam protest in Orange County is the most disturbing six minutes of video you’ll see all week.
• Congratulations to Missouri and Alabama, which became the 16th and 17th states to consider a ban on Islamic law. When asked to explain his legislation, the sponsor of the Missouri bill referred reporters to Google; the author of the Alabama bill lifted language from Wikipedia. Stay tuned next week, when Iowa considers a bill it found on 4Chan.
• Florida also got in on the action, introducing a bill to ban the only scary thing that’s not actually happening in Florida. A similar effort in the Sunshine State failed last year.
• Pamela Geller‘s organization, Stop Islamization of America, was officially designated as a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Geller, in typically non-linear fashion, responded by posting the divorce papers of the SPLC’s founder on her blog, and then called the label a “badge of honor.” Geller’s group joined the ranks of other illustrious groups like the United White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and Independent Skins Southwest.
• The Muslim Terry Jones, British cleric Anjem Choudary, was supposed to hold a rally in front of the White House this week calling for a global Caliphate under strict Sharia law. Also scheduled to attend: the Christian Anjem Choudary, Orlando pastor Terry Jones, who organized a counter-rally. Choudary ultimately cancelled, much to the dismay of Glenn Beck, who had argued that the event would be “the moment that I’ve been saying for five years.” It wasn’t.