WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on the FBI to withdraw its representative from a February event in Texas sponsored by the anti-Muslim hate group ACT! for America and featuring notorious anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist John Guandolo, who claims the CIA director is a secret Muslim agent.
CAIR said the February 13 event, called “Domestic Jihad & ISIS” hosted by St. Mary’s University’s Center for Terrorism Law in San Antonio, will feature a keynote address by a representative of the FBI academy in Qauntico, Va., along with presentation by Guandolo on “Understanding Shariah & Jihad.”
Brochure: Domestic Jihad & ISIS
“St. Mary’s University’s Center for Terrorism Law is free to take funds from an anti-Muslim hate group and to host anti-Muslim conspiracy theorists like John Guandolo, but the FBI should not legitimize their Islamophobia by sending a representative to this event,” said CAIR Department to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia Director Corey Saylor.
Saylor noted that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an organization that tracks hate groups in America, describes Guandolo as “a disreputable character, who regularly attacks the U.S. government, claims that the director of the Central Intelligence Agency is a secret Muslim agent for the Saudi government and says that American Muslims ‘do not have a First Amendment right to do anything.'”
CAIR Islamophobia Monitor: John Guandolo
Last year, CAIR joined a coalition of 75 groups urging the Obama administration to take “immediate action to end the use of anti-Muslim training materials and address anti-Muslim conduct exhibited by agencies throughout the federal government.”
SEE: Coalition Letter to Obama Administration
Guandolo and ACT! for America are closely-tied. Guandolo assisted in the creation of the group’s “Thin Blue Line Project,” which attempts to offer law enforcement authorities biased and inaccurate material about Islam and Muslims.
ACT! for America leader Hanah Kahwagi Tudor, who goes by the pseudonym “Brigitte Gabriel,” says an American Muslim “cannot be a loyal citizen” and that Islam is the “real enemy.” She once told the Australian Jewish News: “Every practicing Muslim is a radical Muslim.” Tudor also claimed that “Islamo-fascism is a politically-correct word. . .it’s the vehicle for Islam. . .Islam is the problem.” The New York Times describes her as a “radical Islamophobe” who in the past has made statements like “Arabs have no soul” and “Arabs are barbarians.”
When asked whether Americans should “resist Muslims who want to seek political office in this nation,” Tudor said, “Absolutely.”
CAIR Islamophobia Monitor: Brigitte Gabriel (ACT! for America)
CAIR Islamophobia Monitor: ACT! For America
The SPLC has named “Brigitte Gabriel” as a member of the nation’s “Anti-Muslim Inner Circle.”
SPLC: The Anti-Muslim Inner Circle
In February of last year, Virginia’s Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy rescinded its earlier approval of in-service training credits for state law enforcement scheduled to attend a training Guandolo was conducting in Culpeper, Va., after being made aware of his anti-Islam rhetoric.
SEE: Virginia Agency Pulls Accreditation for Anti-Muslim Training
In May, a sheriff in Kansas decided not to partner with a citizens group sponsoring a Guandolo training after being informed of his conspiracy theories. When a journalist at Kansas’ Wichita Eagle covered the controversy, Guandolo accused the reporter of material support of terrorism.
SEE: Kansas Sheriff Won’t Partner on Training by John Guandolo
In September, a number of Arizona police departments decided not to send officers to one of Guandolo’s trainings.
CAIR: Arizona Police Departments Drop Out of Islamophobic Training
Guandolo left the FBI shortly after reports surfaced that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with a key witness in a corruption trial targeting a member of Congress.
SEE: FBI Kept Quiet About Sexual Relationship Between Agent, Star Witness in Jefferson Trial
Major General Tony Cucolo, Commandant of the US Army War College, informed CAIR in an email: “Mr. Guandolo’s claim (in print) that he teaches at the Army War College and any other references (e.g., online) identifying him as an adjunct instructor here are simply untrue.”
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
