Rep. King Won’t Back Down on Muslim Radicalization Hearings

American Muslims and some Democrats have gone after New York Republican Rep. Peter King, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, since he decided last month that he would hold hearings about al-Qaida’s attempts to turn U.S. Muslims into terrorists. But King says that he won’t be deterred, The Hill reports.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.

Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on King’s panel, wrote to him last week that the focus of the hearings should expand to include groups such as neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

But King wrote to Thompson Tuesday that “the committee will continue to examine the threat of Islamic radicalization, and I will not allow political correctness to obscure a real and dangerous threat to the safety and security of the citizens of the United States.”

King says, “To include other groups such as neo-Nazis and extreme environmentalists in this hearing would be extraneous and diffuse its efficacy. It would also send the false message that our Committee believes there is any threat equivalency between these disparate groups and Islamist terrorism.”