Advocacy chief fired over ties to anti-Muslims
COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization has fired its leader for ethical and professional breaches it claims include a yearslong secret association with an anti-Muslim group.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations-Ohio said executive and legal director Romin Iqbal was informed Tuesday of his termination, following an investigation by an independent forensic expert ordered by its national headquarters.
Iqbal had been suspended since last week.
The yearlong probe found “conclusive evidence that Iqbal had spent years recording network meetings and passing information regarding the council’s national advocacy work to a known anti-Muslim hate group,” a news release said.
During a Wednesday briefing, spokesperson Whitney Siddiqi identified the nonprofit as the Investigative Project on Terrorism, led by Steven Emerson, which bills itself as a research organization.
The Ohio chapter said “after being confronted with clear evidence of misconduct,” Iqbal admitted to secretly working for the group. Iqbal declined to comment through his attorney, Dave Thomas.
In an emailed statement, the Investigative Project on Terrorism said the Council on American-Islamic Relations did not represent American Muslims and called the organization antisemitic.
“While the Investigative Project on Terrorism has never and will never monitor the wider American Muslim community, it will not hesitate to uncover and publicly expose radical Islamist activity on American soil by groups like CAIR [Council on American-Islamic Relations], which threaten our national security.”
Siddiqi said the Investigative Project has a history of spreading “hate, vitriol and anti-Islamic misinformation,” including calling the council a terrorist organization. Council spokesperson Edward Mitchell said the group has sent the Investigative Project notice of its findings and a legal warning not to destroy any evidence.
FBI spokesperson Todd Lindgren said the government does not keep a list of “hate groups” or terrorist organizations on domestic soil, because the First Amendment protects all Americans’ right to free speech.
Nabeel Raazi, who chairs the board of council’s Columbus-Cincinnati region, which Iqbal had overseen since 2018, called his alleged actions a “betrayal and incredible violation of trust.”
“We know this is heartbreaking. We know it’s shocking,” Siddiqi said. “We know it is honestly a feeling that many of us can’t describe right now. But our work to protect Muslims, to defend Muslims, transcends any one individual and, if anything, this has motivated us, this has reinvigorated us to do the work that we do.”
Siddiqi said local police and the FBI have been alerted to a package containing AR-15 rifle parts that was discovered after Iqbal’s firing on Tuesday to have been mailed to the group’s Columbus office. That package is being held in a secured location, she said. Lindgren said the agency does not confirm or deny investigations.
The Ohio chapter also discovered a series of recent purchases from ammunition and gun retailers from the organization’s credit card that Iqbal administered, she said.
Siddiqi said the Investigative Project has a history of spreading “hate, vitriol and anti-Islamic misinformation,” including calling the council a terrorist organization.