Robert Shillman, the founder and chairman of technology company Cognex Corp, defended the Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas in an interview with Reuters published Saturday.
He praised the event’s organizer, anti-Muslim activist Pam Geller, for defending freedom of speech, and he condemned the two gunmen who opened fire on officers outside her event in Garland, Texas.
“It was a terrorist attack on the American way of life,” Shillman told Reuters.
He also argued that Geller was not to blame for the shooting.
“Blaming Pamela Geller for inciting violence is like blaming a victim of rape for wearing high heels,” he told Reuters.
Geller herself used the same comparison recently when defending her event.
Shillman, who told Reuters that he isn’t anti-Muslim, is also a director at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, which aims to combat “the efforts of the radical left and its Islamist allies to destroy American values,” according to the group’s website.
The Freedom Center runs numerous websites, including Jihad Watch and FrontPage Magazine. Jihad Watch helped organize the Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland, but Shillman declined to tell Reuters whether he helped fund the event.
Shillman told Reuters that he’s not worried about being more outspoken than the average company chairman.
“Most CEOs are hired guns and their future depends on what their boards think of them. I don’t give a fuck,” he said.
