The man who went viral earlier this month for mocking Muslims at a heated McKinney mosque meeting returned to City Hall Tuesday-but this time, he dropped the fake beard and oversized turban.
Matt Rostami, an eye surgeon from Frisco, began his 2-minute speech by removing the same beard and turban he used during his previous appearance, when he leaned into exaggerated stereotypes about Muslims, Sharia law and immigration. The bit drew boos along with shouts from members of the public to "go back home," before a McKinney City Council ultimately (and unanimously) approved the mosque project 7-0.
"The video was satire for those of you who didn't get it," he told council members and the public before showing his real face. "I know it looks funny because I make it look funny, but yeah that was me last week."
From there, Rostami widened the lens beyond the mosque debate.
"I just noticed that every time we got a new immigrant group in America, they always have to get attacked first before they get accepted," Rostami said. "It's kind of like a rite of passage."
He pointed to Italians, Irish immigrants, Catholics and Black Americans as groups that faced hostility before becoming more broadly accepted, arguing that Muslims are now going through something similar.
"It's funny because like now everyone's like, 'Back then, I would have stood up against the hate. I would have done this,' but a lot of people would have done nothing, he said.
Rostami then turned his attention directly toward people he described as "haters," reminding them that history would be paying attention to their current actions.
"So I'll remind the haters this: Though in 30 years I'll have kids. My kids will have kids. They'll love America. They'll love the Constitution," he said before looking directly into the city council's live stream camera. "And it's all being recorded now, so you're going to have to tell them and explain all your hatred."
"To the haters, we wish you a long life, and see you in 30 years," he concluded.
That message arrives amid a broader stretch of anti-Muslim rhetoric and political fights across Texas. Chron has recently reported on backlash over proposed ablution stations at DFW Airport-later scrapped altogether after Texas threatened to pull grants-and attacks directed at Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Constable Ali Sheikhani, a Pakistani-American Muslim Republican.
In a written statement to Chron, Rostami said the latest trip to City Hall seemed less about trolling the people who opposed the mosque and more about making sure they understood what he was trying to say the first time.
"In the future if any of the haters realized their mistake of insulting a religion of 2 billion people I would forgive them," he said. "I would forgive but never forget because just like now, in the future I want to laugh together with all the former haters about how silly this all was."
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This article originally published at North Texas mosque troll goes off on Islamophobia in return to city council.