Karen Harrington Campaign Hints Rivals Cooked Up 'Bible Burning'; Foes Point Back to Her

An unheeded call for a Bible burning at a congressional candidate's restaurant sparked a "whodunnit" exercise over the weekend.

A posting on Craig's List announced there would be a Bible-burning Saturday at a restaurant owned by Republican Karen Harrington, who is seeking to oust Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fort Lauderdale.

The free ad stated: "The Muslim Brotherhood of South Florida is pleased to announce our first BIBLE BURNING. All believers in the TRUE GOD ALLAH are encouraged to attend and participate."

The posting invited attendees to "Bring your own Bible TO BURN," and said "all believers in Allah are welcome."

When no protest ignited at Harrington's Pembroke Pines eatery, fingers began pointing.

"It is unfortunate that there are individuals who feel the need to delve into gutter politics. This is expected behavior from someone who is unbalanced, and has no place in politics," said Harrington spokesman Anthony Bustamante.

"Our campaign to "Fire Debbie Wasserman Schultz" has not skipped a beat, we just hope this classless and irresponsible act was not done by one of our primary opponents."

Javier Manjarres, editor of the South Florida political website Shark Tank and a Harrington backer, went further, saying:

"We can speculate that the author of this post is either one of Harringtons competitors in the primary race or one of their misguided loyal supporters."

But two of Harrington's primary opponents took umbrage at the suggestion, and accused her of cooking up a bogus event.

"My theory is that Harrington is doing it," said Joe Goldner, who believes that a double-game was played for a publicity stunt.

"Why hasn't she condemned CAIR's attempt to bring Islamic training into Broward schools? She has never condemned CAIR or the Muslim Brotherhood," said Goldner.

A campaign aide for another candidate, speaking on condition of anonymity, also pointed back to Harrington's camp, calling the Craig's List ad "a desperate attempt to get publicity."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations disavowed any knowledge of the nonevent, and quickly denounced it.

"I have no idea who's behind it, but there won't be any Muslims there," Hassan Shibly, CAIR's Florida director, said Saturday morning.