Organizers of the three-day convention presented Burguan with a plaque acknowledging his role in supervising the protection of the citizens of San Bernardino County in the attack’s aftermath.
Source/Credit: Press-Enterprise
By Tom Sheridan | December 27, 2015
The San Bernardino police chief is honored at Muslim convention in Chino, where keynote speaker urges fellow Muslims to confront extreme ideology.
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan – the face of the response to the San Bernardino shooting massacre – addressed the annual convention of a Muslim denomination in Chino on Saturday and talked about the transformative nature of the tragedy of Dec. 2.
“You know the events that took place three weeks ago, I think changed all of our lives,” Burguan told a crowd at the Bait ul Hameed Mosque gathered for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s annual West Coast convention.
“And it certainly has become part of the history of our community. Not just the city of San Bernardino, or of San Bernardino County and Southern California, (but) of our nation. It’s become part of that dialogue.”
Fourteen people died and 22 were injured in the mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2. Several hours later the two perpetrators died in a hail of gunfire during a shootout with police in a San Bernardino neighborhood.
Later that day, Burguan was the composed figure who delivered details of the attack and the actions of the multi-jurisdictional police response.
San Bernardino now stands alongside 9/11 as part of the grim glossary for terrorist attacks, and Burguan acknowledged that it has, regrettably, made him an international figure. He noted that a friend visiting Singapore saw him on TV halfway around the world.
“I became part of the story, whether I liked it or not,” Burguan said.
During her remarks, Torres, the former mayor of Pomona, told Burguan: “It’s really important for us to see you here today.”
Organizers of the three-day convention presented Burguan with a plaque acknowledging his role in supervising the protection of the citizens of San Bernardino County in the attack’s aftermath.
Harris Zafar, an author, commentator and national spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, addressed the need to confront extreme Islamic ideology in the session’s keynote address. Zafar said Islam is a belief system that sets standards for the lives of its adherents in their efforts to find God and live a peaceful existence.
“But certainly we cannot bury our heads in the sand,” Zafar said. “There are those who have not lived up to the standard of this belief system. And as Muslims we have to admit there is something wrong here.”
Zafar said there are those who claim to be Muslims and commit heinous acts in the name of Islam. The San Bernardino shooters declared their allegiance to the Islamic State prior to the attack.
In his speech, Zafar listed 11 key principles of Islam that differentiate what he calls true Islam from extremism. Among them are the rejection of any justification for terrorism, the equality of women, and freedom of conscience, religion and speech.
Near the end of his presentation, Zafar invited those in the audience to take out their smart phones, activate their browsers and visit the website trueislam.com. He said letters have been sent to every mosque in the country asking them to advocate for the true Islam, and endorse those 11 principles.
“This is our effort to unite Muslims and non-Muslims alike,” Zafar said.
The session concluded with speeches by local interfaith leaders, Rev. Ann Schranz of Monte Vista Unitarian Universalist Congregation and Jim Thomas of the Upland Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Representatives from the Upland Police Department were also recognized during the program.
“When this is all said and done, there’s a story that’s going to be told about our city, our county, our community, our state and our country and our world for that matter,” Chief Burguan said. “But the special thing is we all have an opportunity to be part of that story. And we have an opportunity to decide what that final chapter is going to be.”
Contact the writer: 951-368-9682 or tsheridan@pe.com
Read original post here: USA: San Bernardino Police Chief Burguan Honored at West Coast Jalsa Salana
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