Spokane City Councilman Jon Snyder said a protest before Monday's City Council meeting was "anti-Muslim," and that he had received emails that were "some of the most vitriolic and bigoted emails in my years on Council."

In a blog post called "Bigotry is alive and well," Snyder condemned a protest from some of Spokane’s tea party faithful, who gathered outside the council’s town hall meeting at the Northeast Community Center for what they called “a rally for Spokane values.”

The protest materialized after the City Council put a salutation to local Muslims recognizing their contributions to the community on its agenda.

State Rep. Matt Shea said the rally was not meant to be anti-Muslim. But he tied the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has a local chapter, to militant groups and the imposition of Islamic law. 

Snyder, in no uncertain terms, disagreed with Shea.

Here's the opening to Snyder's post:

Last night there was an attempt to overshadow the City Council’s Town Hall meeting of Northeast Neighborhoods by anti-Muslim activists. Efforts to disrupt the meeting failed and supporters of Muslim families who came for a salutation honoring the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) gave these community members an ovation for being brave enough to run the gauntlet of right-wing activists demonstrating against Muslim-Americans in front of the community center. I have received some of the most vitriolic and bigoted emails in my years on Council in relation to the CAIR salutation yesterday. On the flip side I can only confirm one of these emails actually came from Spokane. As you may recall the salutation we gave was in response to a hate crime committed against the Bosnia Herzegovina Heritage Association Center.