Law enforcement agencies routinely bring in outside organizations and individuals for trainings and workshops on specific topics – drugs, domestic violence, terrorism, etc. A disturbing trend amidst the recent rise of Islamophobia in recent years is the deception of local, state and sometimes even federal law enforcement agencies by self-proclaimed security and terrorism experts. These so-called experts are sometimes well known Islamophobes – anti-Muslim bigots who earn a living from producing misinformation and hatred on Islam and Muslims.
Incidents have occurred in nearly every state around the country, from the NYPD showing their police officers the Islamophobe propaganda video known as The Third Jihad, to the Department of Homeland Security paying Walid Shoebat, a notorious Muslim hater, $5,000 to train law enforcement personnel in South Dakota on Islam and Muslims
CAIR has made a formal equest to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to conduct an agency-wide investigation of the use of outside trainers who offer hostile, stereotypical and grossly inaccurate information about Muslims and Islam to the nation’s security personnel.
CAIR-PA Executive Director Moein Khawaja traveled to Harrisburg to discuss this phenomenon with state police, local and federal law enforcement officials from across the state, in order to prevent such a thing from happening here. Khawaja warned the officials of individuals and organizations that may pose as experts, when in fact they are merely anti-Muslim bigots. As CAIR-PA continues to build better relations with law enforcement, we hope that what results is a better, safer environment for Muslim Americans and law enforcement personnel who are well-trained – not deceived – and thus, better able to perform their duties in keeping us all safe.
For further reading on this issue:
Article: How We Train Our Cops to Fear Islam
Full Report: Manufacturing the Muslim Menace – Private Firms, Public Servants, and the Threat to Rights and Security
