FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHOENIX – The ACLU of Arizona and leader of Arizona’s Muslim community today sent a letter to Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery demanding he cancel a biased, anti-Muslim presentation his office plans to host next week for law enforcement personnel from across Arizona.
“The use of anti-Muslim trainers and materials is highly offensive, disparages the faith of millions of Americans, and inevitably leads to biased policing that targets individuals and communities based on religion and ethnicity, and not on criminal acts or evidence of wrongdoing,” states the letter, which was signed by leaders of the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Arizona Muslim Police Advisory Board, the Muslim American Society of Arizona, the Islamic Community Center of Tempe, the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix and the Islamic Center of the North East Valley as well as the ACLU of Arizona.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is scheduled to host John Guandolo and his “Understanding the Threat” associates on Friday, Sept. 19. Guandolo and his associates are noted for inaccurate and dangerous statements based on their animus and bigotry towards the Muslim community.
Guandolo has been described as a “notorious Muslim-basher and conspiracy theorist who resigned from the FBI before he could be investigated for misconduct.”
“The sponsorship by the County Attorney reflects a pattern by Maricopa County law enforcement of insensitivity toward Muslims and hostility to minority and immigrant communities,” the authors say in the letter before demanding the presentation be cancelled.
###
