By Rachel Whitt
At a press conference on Wednesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) presented a number of speakers who challenged the congressional actions of House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.)
King has called for a series of hearings to take place, the first of which is scheduled for Thursday, to explore “The extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s Response.” The hearing has provoked protests on grounds that it unfairly targets Muslims.
Nihad Awad, the National Executive Director of CAIR, said that King’s two main allegations, that American Muslims do not cooperate with law enforcement and that 80-85% of their leadership are ‘extremists’, are “demonstrably false.”
“Top law enforcement officials such as FBI Director Robert Mueller and Sheriff Lee Baca, commander of the nation’s largest sheriff’s department and a board member of the National Sheriff’s Association, say muslims support and cooperate with law enforcement,” Awad said.
According to Awad, more than 250 organizations have written to Representative King, expressing concerns about his statements. Action groups including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) spoke at the CAIR event, criticizing the platform of King’s allegations.
Michael Macleod-Ball, the Legislative Chief of Staff for ACLU, said it is King’s right to “voice his opinions, no matter how ill-informed they may be.”
“But Congressional inquires, like legislation, must not entrench on first amendment rights.” Macleod-Ball continued. “With tomorrow’s hearing targeting the American Muslim community for special investigation for an alleged, and erroneous, connection to domestic terrorists, Mr. King is coming perilously close to doing just that.”
King has recently been under scrutiny for alleged hypocrisy because of his outspoken support of the Irish Republic Army (IRA) in 1982. He told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the IRA and Al-Qaida are very different and that the IRA never attacked America. AP reports that King believes the Muslim community should do more to renounce al Qaeda and cooperate with law enforcement.
The Thursday morning hearing consists of three panels and six witnesses, including Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, and Sheriff Leroy Baca of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.