By Della Hasselle and Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producers
LOWER MANAHTTAN — Thousands of demonstrators who used the 9/11 anniversary to highlight the mosque controversy exploited the memory of the dead, mourners said.
Angry scenes across downtown Saturday marred what relatives said should have been a solemn day of remembrance.
"It's their five minutes of fame," Dave Milanowycz, 56, from New Jersey, told the New York Post about protesters who rallied for and against the proposed Muslim cultural center.
Milanowycz's nephew, Gregory, 26, died on 9/11.
"It's a terrible thing," he said. "The true spirit is reflection and getting together."
Sisters Marvina Baksh, 48, of New Jersey, and Michelle Baksh, 37, of Washington Heights, came downtown to remember their brother Michael, who died aged 36.
"We saw a group of protesters coming in just as we were leaving," they told the Post.
"They were rabid people. Why does today have to be about a political agenda? We never had a chance to mourn the loss of our brother privately."
Demonstrations organized by the Tea Party Patriots and Stop Islamization of America were countered by a huge pro-mosque rally held by the International Action Center. They started just hours after families gathered for a somber ceremony at Ground Zero.
The day of action began with an unofficial protest as a man ripped out pages of the Koran and set them ablaze.
The man, who did not give his name, yelled, "If they can burn American flags, I can burn the Koran," according to the Daily News.
"Americans should never be afraid to give their opinion," he said.
The display — prompted by Florida Pastor Terry Jones' aborted plan to burn the holy book of the Muslim faith — ended when police led the man away.
The News reported that the man was not arrested.
In a rally at City Hall Park, mosque supporters demanded religious freedom.
“It’s an insult to use grief and loss as a means to advance your own political agenda,” speaker Pardiss Kebreaei said at the demonstration, referring to the anti-mosque protests being held just blocks away.
About twenty speakers called on their supporters — who were holding signs that said “Islam Has Been in New York for 400 Years” and “Say No to Racism and Bigotry" — to denounce the opponents of the potential new Islamic center, known as Park51.
“Bigotry leads to murder,” Steve Billies of the Bail Out the People Movement said over a loudspeaker. “We will never forget, but we need unity, not racism.”
“I’ve lived here for 20 years,” Muslim and downtown resident Fathia Dahbi, 48, said as she protested with her 10-year-old son, Ameen Dahbi.
“This is my country, you know? But sometimes they look at me like I’m a criminal."
A heavy police presence barricaded the downtown area as the mosque's opponents gathered for the Stop Islamization of America rally - more than 1,000 of them filling two blocks of West Broadway.
"It's the wrong place," said Norman Roberts, 71, an army veteran from Long Island.
"It's desecrating the names of the 3,000 people who were murdered."
Instead of two blocks from Ground Zero, he said the mosque should be built, "60 miles east of here, in the ocean."
The protest started with a moment of silence in respect for 9/11's victims.
But it soon turned into a rallying chant of "USA! USA! USA!"
Nelly Braginskaya, whose son Alex died in the attacks, criticized Mayor Bloomberg and President Obama for supporting Park51.
"This is not about freedom of religion," she said.
"It's about geography. You can pray, but a little bit farther away. What's the big deal? God will (still) hear you."
The rally also heard from John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who spoke by video link.
