WASHINGTON (WMAL) — Community relations with Muslims in Spotsylvania county are on the mend after a town-hall meeting turned sour at a Mosque two weeks ago.

“The meeting digressed into a shouting match: People calling Muslims terrorists, people saying all kinds of names and law enforcement had to shut it down,” says Rev. Patrick Mahoney, who lives in Spotsylvania county and leads the Christian Defense Coalition.

After learning of the harsh exchanges during the meeting, Mahoney reached out to the Islamic Center of Fredericksburg to show support.

“I was extremely troubled that in my own backyard, which would be primarily considered a strong evangelical Christian community, to see this kind of anger and vitriol directed against our Muslim neighbors,” Mahoney said.

Samer Shalaby of the Islamic Center says he was happy to get the call from Mahoney.

“He felt that what happened was uncalled for and un-American, and so we talked, and we started discussing how can we do things together?” Samer Shalaby of the Islamic Center told WMAL.

Mahoney invited the Islamic Center to take part in a clothing drive to help Sryian refugees.

“We could have had this clothing drive in churches, but we felt that the most positive way that we could do this to send a strong signal of unity is to have it at the Mosque. We hope it brings healing to our community.”

The clothing drive will last until Sunday.

Mahoney’s support, along with the phone calls and emails with notes of support from other non-Muslims across the country and the world, has greatly uplifted the spirits of the Muslim community in Fredericksburg, Shalaby said.

“You start realizing that, no, the loud minority, maybe doesn’t represent this country and what we stand for,” he said.

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