On Saturday, December 11, CAIR-PA staff and board members, along with local Muslim leaders with the Council of Islamic Organizations of PA (CIOPA), participated in the FBI’s Community Relations Executive Seminar Training (CREST) program at the Al-Aqsa Islamic Center. The purpose of the program was for community leaders to learn more about the FBI and for FBI officials and agents to understand more about the concerns of the Muslim community.
After the training, there was an open forum for concerns regarding FBI tactics used with Muslim Americans and mosques. Local leaders expressed concerns over informants penetrating mosques, agent provocateurs bringing extremist rhetoric, notable Islamophobes providing the FBI with misinformation on Islam and Muslims, imams being interviewed by FBI agents, and much more. FBI officials acknowledged that the relationship between the agency and the Muslim Americans needs to improve, and all parties agreed that more dialogue and outreach, such as the CREST program, is a step in the right direction.
SEE: Community Relations Executive Seminar Training (CREST) at FBI.gov
