level of anti-Muslim bias.
A 10-minute video posted on YouTube shows an ACT! for America table at the University of Central Florida April 5. In the video, Act! representatives, including Orlando Coordinator Alan Kornman, are speaking with passing students about Islam.
One of the students asked the Act! representative she was speaking with, “Do you think that this kind of organization promotes hate among people?… In the society that we live I,… do you think that it looks like it promotes hate? Because I would argue yes.”
Another student brought up a rumor that one of the Act! representatives present had urinated in the wash basins in which Muslims on campus washed their hands and feet, a ritual known as wudu that is required of Muslims before they pray.
The Act! representative, who is heard but not seen, says in part: “Their foot baths, I love pissing in them….The Qoran makes worthless toilet paper. It just kind of scratches my ass a little bit….To me, I like desecrating their holy stuff.”
On March 9, Representative Sue Myrick, Republican of North Carolina, wrote an open letter saying she planned to speak at ACT! for America’s June conference in Washington, D.C., and urged support for the group. Myrick wrote in part: “Knowing ACT! for America as I do,… I have no doubt that this conference will be a first-class event that you won’t want to miss.”
The Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on Myrick to repudiate Act!’s hate-speech. CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said, “No member of Congress should be associated with or support a group whose representatives and leaders hold such hate-filled and un-American views.”
Recently, members of the Florida Muslim community have reported to CAIR that ACT! representatives harassed them at Islamic community events. According to community members, police were called during two events to remove representatives of the anti-Islamic group, who reportedly included Kornman. Last weekend, CAIR reported that ACT! for America joined other anti-Islam hate groups in protesting a Muslim community event held in Virginia.
Last February, Myrick—who has been criticized for her oftentimes strong opinions against Islam—held a town hall meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which she argued that the risk of homegrown Islamist terrorism is real and defended herself against Muslim constituents who charged that she was spreading fear about Islam.
The YouTube clip of Act! representatives speaking with students at the University of Central Florida is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn5UfW6GOc4
