New York, March 10: New York Republican Representative Peter King has been harshly criticized over his “anti-Muslim statements,” ahead of a controversial congressional hearing that targets American Muslims.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) lashed out at King, the chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, over his comments in which he said his upcoming congressional hearing is not against “Islam as a religion.”
The panel chairman has repeatedly accused Muslim American community of not cooperating with law enforcement agencies, saying that a large number of mosques in the United States encourage “radicalization.”
“I think that congressman King has a long history of anti-Muslim statements,” CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor told Press TV’s US Desk.
“He needs to admit that he has no evidentiary basis for searching 88% of American mosques for extremists,” Saylor said.
“We have proven that to be false, and yet he keeps repeating it.”
King has repeatedly defended the need for the hearings with their focus on Muslims.
The House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to open the hearings on Thursday.
The committee hearing, targeting American Muslims, drew criticism due to its sole focus on Muslim Americans.
Attorney General Eric Holder warned King against alienating the American Muslim community.
He said that leaders and members of the Muslim community in the United States “have contributed significantly” to resolving cases.
He further pointed out that focusing on a single constituency was risky.
According to Islamic groups in the US, tensions are increasing against Muslims all over the country and even in historically diverse areas.
Although Muslims make up around 2 percent of the US population, they account for about one-quarter of the 3,386 religious discrimination claims filed with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2010.
——–Agencies