"Just unbelievable:" Anti-Muslim note posted at grocery store shocks customers, store officials alike
OAK CREEK -- A surprising find Tuesday, December 8th at a grocery store. Some are calling a note posted inside the store hate speech against Muslims.
It's unclear who posted the message.
Woodman's officials took down the note, and ripped it up as soon as FOX6 News brought it to their attention.
Many who saw it say they're offended.
Note at grocery store in Oak Creek
"This is not good. Wow," a Woodman's customer said.
"If I had seen it, I would have asked 'why is that up? Why do they have that up?'" a customer said.
The note was posted inside the main entrance on a wall with community posters and advertisements, and addressed to Muslims. It said: "Dress, speak, conform to USA standards, or don`t come to the USA. Or get out."
It was signed, "The people."
"I think that is offensive. Especially here in Oak Creek, after everything that happened with the (Sikh) Temple and the controversy," a customer said.
On August 5th, 2012, six people were murdered at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin -- just up the road from the Woodman's store in Oak Creek. Wade Page, a white supremacist eventually turned the gun on himself.
Shooting at Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek
Woodman's officials said they were unaware the note had been posted, and it was immediately taken down and ripped up when FOX6 News brought it to their attention.
Area where anti-Muslim note was posted at Woodman's
"It`s just unbelievable. Basically what we`re doing -- we are fighting hate with hate, instead of the American ideal which is let`s fight hate with democracy and equality," Mai McCarthy said.
McCarthy, a student at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) says Muslim classmates have shared stories of bigotry.
"They screamed at her -- 'get out. Get out of our country, terrorist,' and she was just pumping gas," McCarthy said.
Mai McCarthy
McCarthy says on Wednesday, December 9th, she'll help host a "Peace Teaching on Islam" at MATC's Oak Creek campus.
"We should accept different cultures and understand it through education," McCarthy said.
The event is free and open to the public. It begins at 10:00 a.m. at MATC's South Campus in Lecture Hall A.