SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah (ABC 4 News) - A billboard protesting the ground zero mosque faces south near Interstate 15 just north of 10600 South.
An estimated 3.5 million cars will drive past an image of the fallen trade center with the phrase, "Stand up and be heard. No mosque at ground zero."
Ralph Dlugas paid $10,000 to put up the billboard. He says the idea just came to him, "I was driving down the road when I heard that Darryl Worley song, have you forgotten."
Dlugas is sending a clear message to the muslim community set on building a mosque near ground zero, "It seems horribly insensitive to me."
He says building the mosque where 3,000 people died is salt in the wounds off all the families who lost loved ones almost nine years ago in the world trade center buildings.
"Muslim people died there also," said Saed Ali who is also a muslim.
He says he mourned Sept. 11 along with the rest of his fellow Americans. He says it's not fair to brand the entire muslim community because of the terrorists who killed innocent people.
He rejects the attacks and says main stream muslims do too. He wants the mosque to go up near ground zero to heal and promote understanding of what he says muslims really believe, which is love.
The controversial billboard will face south near 10600 South for another two and a half months. Drivers traveling north can see the billboard. It's bound to stir debate for hundreds of people in Utah.
"If someone wanted to build a mosque next to your business would you oppose it?" asked ABC 4's Noah Bond. Dlugas replied, "Absolutely not. It's an empty lot. I'll give them the land I've got three acres."
Utah Senator Orrin Hatch drafted a law, which makes it illegal for any city to use an ordinance to prevent religious groups from building houses of worship on their privately-owned property.
Although, Hatch says he understands the need to be sensitive to family members of the 9-11 victims he also reminds everyone the constitution trumps public outcry.
