fbpx

Why a US company’s chairman threw support behind Prophet Mohammad cartoon event

Robert Shillman heads a publicly traded American technology company called Cognex Corp with a market value of $4 billion.
[additional-authors]
May 12, 2015

Robert Shillman heads a publicly traded American technology company called Cognex Corp with a market value of $4 billion. He also says he is a big supporter of last Sunday's Prophet Mohammad cartoon contest in Texas that was attacked by two gunmen who opened fire before being shot dead by police.

In a telephone interview with Reuters from his home near San Diego, California, Shillman said America's free speech is under threat. He added that violent attacks on such events are making people fearful and prone to self censorship. Many Muslims regard depictions of the prophet – such as the caricatures displayed at the event – as offensive and against the religion's teachings.

“It was a terrorist attack on the American way of life,” says Shillman, who says he isn't anti-Muslim.

Shillman said he remains a director of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, whose Jihad Watch website helped organize the cartoon event in a Dallas suburb with activist Pamela Geller's American Freedom Defense Initiative.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which tracks what it describes as extremist groups, has called the Freedom Center's founder, the right-wing commentator David Horowitz, “the godfather of the anti-Muslim Movement.” The Freedom Center says it “combats the efforts of the radical left and its Islamist allies to destroy American values.”

The SPLC also calls Geller's AFDI a hate group because of the way it talks about and depicts Muslims.

Horowitz, in an email, called Shillman “an American hero” who is entirely transparent in his agenda. Horowitz also said the SPLC couldn't produce one statement of his own that was anti-Muslim.

Geller did not return messages seeking comment.

PARIS ATTACK

Sunday's attack had some echoes of the January assault on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that left 12 dead in what was said to be revenge for its cartoons of the prophet.

As founder of Natick, Massachusetts-based Cognex, which makes machine vision products that help automate manufacturing, Shillman says he is more outspoken than a typical U.S. corporate leader. “Most CEOs are hired guns and their future depends on what their boards think of them. I don't give a fuck.”

The Freedom Center, whose P.O. Box address is in Sherman Oaks, California, runs several blogs and websites, including the online FrontPage Magazine and Jihad Watch. Shillman has funded four fellowships for journalists who have have worked on the FrontPage, which is the center's online journal for news and political commentary. He declined to comment when asked if he helped pay for the cartoon contest.

Shillman, who grew up in Boston, says he is an admirer of Geller for her defense of free speech and American democracy. “Blaming Pamela Geller for inciting violence is like blaming a victim of rape for wearing high heels,” he said

Dr. Bob, as he calls himself, has the additional title of chief culture officer at Cognex, whose stock has produced a 373 percent return over the past five years. Shillman calls Cognex's 1,300 employees Cognoids and rewards those who reach certain long-service milestones with trips to any one of the Wonders of the World. On their birthdays, U.S. employees get a cake delivered to their homes.

For years, Shillman – who owns about 5 percent of the company's shares – has foregone millions of dollars in salary, bonus and stock options. Cognex donates the money to charity.

Anthony Sun, lead director on the Cognex board, could not be reached for comment.

FUNDS PRO-ISRAEL GROUPS

Shillman has in the past withdrawn support from organizations whose behavior he disagrees with. In 2002, he pulled funding from WBUR, a National Public Radio station in Boston, for what he perceived as anti-Israel sentiment.

His Shillman Foundation has funded a number of conservative and pro-Israeli groups, including the Zionist Organization of America. The ZOA has targeted both academics it perceives have been teaching anti-Israel doctrine and Palestine student groups accused of intimidating Jewish students on U.S. campuses, including a campaign at Shillman's alma mater, Northeastern University in Boston.

Shillman is an emeritus trustee at the university and has given it substantial amounts of money, including $3 million for a classroom building that was then named after him.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

A Deafening Silence

A Jewish woman burned to death on American soil. The violence wasn’t random. It was ideological, premeditated, and still, almost no one says her name.

Refreshing Summer Salads

Bright, earthy and deeply refreshing, this salad brings together the forest-like aroma of fresh herbs with a sweet and nutty crunch.

Print Issue: Reclaiming American Values | July 4, 2025

“American values” was once shorthand for the animating ideals of liberal democracy. Now it’s become politicized. As we celebrate July 4th, Jews must lead the way in reclaiming an idea that is meant to unite us, not divide us.

Why Jews Must Reclaim American Values

“American values” was once shorthand for the animating ideals of liberal democracy. Now it’s become politicized. As we celebrate July 4, Jews must lead the way in reclaiming an idea that is meant to unite us, not divide us.

Dawn of a New Era in the Middle East

The ceasefire that President Trump brokered is the second crucial step in that process, not the end of the story but the start of a new chapter.

The Fall of Pride. And the March Into Mayhem

To those raising fists in solidarity with the “Free Palestine” movement in the Western world and chanting “resistance by any means necessary,” we ask: Does your “resistance support” include the execution of queer people?

Why Jews Must Stand Up for America

If America is “irredeemably racist,” then so are the Jews. If America is in trouble, then so are the Jews. If more and more people are becoming anti-American, you can be sure they’re also becoming anti-Jewish.

The Fourth of July and ‘Four Score’

This July Fourth, members of the Jewish faith can take particular pride in one of their rabbis likely inspiring America’s most beloved president’s famous phrase.

More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.