Restaurant owner who posted 'Muslims get out' sign invited to US mosque

Washington, Sept 21: A restaurant owner in the US, who had put up a "Muslims get out" sign outside his eatery as he was upset over the recent stabbing in Minnesota, has been invited to a mosque to learn more about Islam and the Muslim community.

Dan Ruedinger, the owner of the Treats Family Restaurant, has said that he had put up the controversial sign because he was upset over the stabbings at a St. Cloud mall in Minnesota. A man making "some references to Allah" stabbed and injured eight people in the shopping mall, before being shot dead by an off-duty officer.

"We are not targeting the Muslims in general, just the extremists," Dan Reudinger has said. "That's all I can say. It's my right and I'm going to stand up, and I wish more people would do it," CBS Minnesota reported on Wednesday.

Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations in Minnesota (CAIR-MN), plans to invite Ruedinger to a mosque in Faribault. CAIR-MN hopes a meeting with local Muslims will change the business owner's view of the state's Islamic community, it said.

"Our experience has shown that interaction with ordinary American Muslims and enhanced knowledge of Islam are key factors in the reduction of Islamophobic attitudes," Hussein said.

Hussein also thanked community members of different faiths and backgrounds who demonstrated outside the Lonsdale restaurant and spoke out against the sign on social media.

Ruedinger's sign drew protesters. They said that while the business owner had the right to say what he wanted, his message reflected badly on the Lonsdale community.

PTI