Republican gubernatorial contender John James pledged over the weekend to designate the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights organization, as a terrorist group after its leadership denounced comments he made characterizing participants in an Islamic religious procession in southeast Michigan as "extremists."
In an interview with anchor Rob Finnerty of the right-wing media outlet Newsmax, James used even harsher language. Finnerty played footage of what appeared to be the recent Ashura procession through Dearborn. The day combines a commemoration of the martyrdom of a revered figure in Shia Islam with community-wide acts of generosity, and Finnerty noted that among the many flags carried by those involved, he didn't see a single American flag.
"I didn't go and fight extremists to have them on our doorstep here,” said James, who served as helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army during the War in Iraq. “Under no circumstances will we be a home in Michigan for extremism.”
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the U.S., condemned those remarks as running counter to the rights James said he fought to defend – including freedom of religion.
“Mr. James is literally labeling the First Amendment, constitutionally protected right of freedom of assembly, as somehow un-American and attached to extremism,” CAIR Michigan’s executive director Dawud Walid told Michigan Public. “We find this to be highly problematic especially from an individual who is a veteran defending the rights of Americans.”
Following a press release issued by CAIR-MI on Friday, the James campaign released a statement calling CAIR a "radical extremist group” and pledging to have it labeled as a terrorist organization.
Two states have recently moved to curtail the influence of CAIR.
In November, Texas Governor Greg Abbott designated his state’s chapter of CAIR as a terrorist organization, followed by the same actions by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis the following month.
CAIR has filed lawsuits in both states defending its right to operate and alleging that the terrorism designation was applied unconstitutionally.
Walid called the attacks on the Michigan chapter of CAIR as well and others across the country, “Macarthy-esque.”
“The irony of it is that the same people that [James] criticized in Dearborn as extremists have family members displaced or killed” in Iraq due to the war, he said.
