CAIR Asks Va. Sheriff to Drop Trainer Who Says Mosques 'Have No Right to Exist,' CIA Director is Secret Muslim

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on Virginia Muslims and all those concerned about the proliferation of Islamophobia and other forms of bigotry in our society to contact the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office and ask that it drop a three-day training program on "Jihadi Networks in America" that will be offered next week by John Guandolo, a notorious anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist.

[NOTE: CAIR and representatives of the local Muslim community have asked to meet with the sheriff to discuss Guandolo's anti-Muslim bigotry, but have received no response. We have been informed that Virginia State Police officers and officers from Arlington, Va., will also attend the training. Both agencies have been contacted for comment.]

In an article published yesterday by Virginia's Free Lance–Star, an official with the Southern Poverty Law Center – an organization that monitors hate groups – said:

"Guandolo, who resigned from the FBI ahead of a misconduct investigation, has made a career out of spreading anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. Most recently, he claimed that CIA director John Brennan is a secret Muslim agent for the Saudis. It's hard to believe that Culpeper County Sheriff's Office would knowingly get involved with such a disreputable figure."

SEE: Culpeper Sheriff Says Criticism Won't Stop Anti-Muslim Seminar (AP)
http://tinyurl.com/q8l8lea

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE and RESPECTFUL. Hostile comments can and will be used to harm the image of the Muslim community.)

CONTACT Sheriff Scott H. Jenkins to express your concerns about officers in his department being trained by a notorious Islamophobe and conspiracy theorist who claims the CIA director is a secret Muslim and that American Muslims should not be granted constitutional rights.

Email Sheriff Jenkins at: [email protected]

COPY TO: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Phone: (540) 727-7520

Culpeper County Sheriff's Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Culpeper-County-Sheriffs-Office/137062862975258   

Background on John Guandolo's Anti-Muslim Bigotry:

Guandolo detailed his bizarre claim about the CIA director's alleged conversion to Islam in an interview with another notorious Islamophobe, Robert Spencer.

VIDEO: Islamophobe John Guandolo Claims CIA Director John Brennan is a Secret Muslim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aieUdwZoYMg

He also asserts that American Muslims "do not have a First Amendment right to do anything," refers to America's mosques and Islamic centers as "barracks" and falsely claims "it is a permanent command in Islam for Muslims to hate and despise Jews and Christians." 

Additionally, an article published by the Tennessean on February 15, 2012, reports Guandolo's belief that mosques are "front organizations for the Muslim Brotherhood with no right to exist."

SEE: US Military School Taught Soldiers to Wage "Total War" Against Islam
http://rt.com/usa/us-students-war-islam-930/  

During a 2012 anti-Muslim training in Tennessee, Guandolo was videoed shoving a local news camera that attempted to record the training. He is linked to one of nation's the most vicious anti-Muslim groups, ACT! for America.

SEE: ACT! for America to Launch Anti-Muslim Website for Law Enforcement  http://tinyurl.com/q724ykg   
CAIR Islamophobia Backgrounder: ACT! for America and 'Brigitte Gabriel' 
http://tinyurl.com/p3cc7qn 

Following calls for reform by CAIR and other groups following revelations of apparently widespread anti-Muslim bias in the training of law enforcement, security and military personnel nationwide, the Obama administration removed biased and inaccurate materials about Islam from federal trainings.

SEE: CAIR Asks Sec. Napolitano to Probe Use of Islamophobic Trainers
http://tinyurl.com/omhvmrt 
Video: CAIR Decries Anti-Muslim Police Trainers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxX5y7zX8RU  
Obama Orders Clean Up of Islamophobic Terror Training
http://tinyurl.com/74ozglm  

An 80-page report by Political Research Associates (PRA), titled "Manufacturing the Muslim Menace: Private Firms, Public Servants, & the Threat to Rights and Security," details a systemic failure to regulate content in counterterrorism training.

SEE: Manufacturing the Muslim Menace
http://tinyurl.com/4qeretq  

Washington Monthly magazine also published a major investigative article showing similar anti-Islam attitudes by private trainers of law enforcement agencies.

SEE: How We Train Our Cops to Fear Islam
http://tinyurl.com/4ajnx3h

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.

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Contact: CAIR Department to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia Director Corey Saylor, 202-384-8857, E-Mail [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: [email protected]; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)