Photos From the Counter Protest to NYC Anti-Sharia Law March

Here are some photos I took from Saturday’s counter protest to the anti-sharia law protests in New York City.

You can see more full sized images at the Hashtag Occupy Media News Blog post here. And here is some context showing how the protests and counter protests were nationwide from NPR:

Protesters who gathered on Saturday to denounce Islamic law were met across the country with equally sized or larger counter-protests. Organizers called the “March Against Sharia” rallies to protest what they say is the threat to U.S. society posed by the set of traditional Muslim practices, which they say includes oppression of women, honor killings, homophobic violence, female genital mutilation and other abuses.

But reports and pictures show large counter-protests around the country, with activists accusing the “anti-sharia” marchers of racism and Islamophobia. Sharia “is a legal or philosophical code derived from Islamic scripture and meant to guide the behavior of observant Muslims,” as NPR’s Tom Gjelten noted. Religious experts say it’s similar to parts of Christian and Jewish customs.