Brigitte Gabriel, one of the most influential anti-Muslim leaders currently in America, said Monday evening she has a meeting at the White House.
Gabriel — who once said “every practicing Muslim is a radical Muslim” — founded the group ACT for America in 2007.
The White House didn't immediately return a request for comment about if a meeting is on — and if so, who Gabriel is meeting with.
BuzzFeed News reported in September 2016 that ACT for America has been classified has a gate group by several organizations that track extremism, such as the Southern Poverty Law Center. Ret. Gen. Michael Flynn — who President Trump recently fired as National Security Advisor for lying about communicating with Russia — called Islam a "cancer" an an ACT meeting and is a member of the group's board.
The possible meeting comes as the Trump administration is under fire for banning travel from six Muslim-majority countries — a federal judge put the presidential order on hold — and for restricting electronics on flights for people traveling from 10 major airports in the Middle East. Trump, while he was a candidate, said he wanted to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
ACT boasts 300,000 members in 1,000 chapters nationwide and has built a political operation around its ideas. As BuzzFeed News's David Noriega reported:
“They embody this idea that Islamophobia is not fringe,” said Kalia Abiade, advocacy director for the Center for New Community, which monitors what it calls “organized bigotry” and has tracked ACT for America nearly since its inception. “Their positions might be extreme, but they are not a fringe movement. They have really good relationships with lawmakers. They’ve got members of Congress speaking at their briefings. In terms of direct impact, I don’t know who else would compete with them.”
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/2nGmgmN
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