Plans for an Islamic community center at Park51 site sparked outrage earlier this month when hundreds of protesters gathered at the area on 9/11's ninth anniversary. "Of course I think they should build the mosque. The people who lost friends or relatives have every right to protest and say what they want to say. All the other people weighing in for political and exploitation reasons ... should shut up and just let the people who were personally affected make their case," contactmusic.com quoted him as saying. "If I was speaking to the people who are protesting legitimately, I would try to convince them, if I could, that building the mosque takes a step toward eliminating this kind of thing from happening again. Preventing the mosque from being built is not a step in the right direction."