Rights Working Group Denounces King’s Third Hearing on Muslim Radicalization

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Keith Rushing, Communications Manager

krushing@rightsworkinggroup.org 

(P) 202-591-3305 (c) 557-4291

In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Oslo, Norway and the ensuing rush to judgment which incorrectly blamed the attacks on the actions of Muslim extremists, we are reminded of the dangers of Islamophobia.  Rather than gleaning a lesson from these tragic events, Peter King remains undeterred and plans to go forward with the third in his series of hearings on Muslim radicalization.  These hearings have unjustly singled out the Muslim community for suspicion and scrutiny.  “Once again, Representative King is misusing his position of power in Congress to target a single faith community.  This is a reminder of dark periods of our history where discrimination was tolerated in the name of national security,” said Margaret Huang, Executive Director of Rights Working Group. 

King’s discriminatory hearings are ineffective in assessing whether DHS is responding effectively to  credible threats to the nation.  As the events of Oslo should remind us, no one race or religion has a monopoly on violence or extremism.   Recently, evidence has emerged that the Department of Homeland Security has ignored detailed analysis of extremist groups inside the U.S., choosing to severely limit the number of analysts studying this trend and refusing to publish their findings.  By targeting the Muslim community in America for heightened scrutiny, King is playing politics rather than conducting effective oversight to ensure that DHS is effectively responding to the intelligence that it gathers.

In addition, King has again stated that the purpose of the series of hearings is, in part, to expose the American Muslim community’s lack of cooperation with law enforcement officials to disrupt terrorism plots.  King’s accusation has not been upheld by any credible witnesses and in fact, his premise has repeatedly been disavowed by law enforcement and government officials who are respected experts on counter-terrorism.   “By continuing his myopic and unproductive focus on the Muslim community , Congressman King is squandering the Committee’s time and resources.  Congressman King should focus the Committee’s resources on ensuring that the Department of Homeland Security is fulfilling its mission without infringing on the human rights and civil liberties of the people it is supposed to protect,” said Huang.