New York Republican Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, announced Tuesday that he will hold a third hearing on Muslim radicalization later this month. The hearing will focus on Somalia-based terrorist group al-Shabaab’s recruitment of Muslim-Americans.
King’s first two hearings focused on Muslim-American radicalization and radicalization in U.S. prisons.
“At this hearing, the third in a series, we will examine Somalia-based terrorist organization al-Shabaab’s ongoing recruitment, radicalization, and training of young Muslim-Americans and al-Shabaab’s linking up with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula,” said King.
According to the New York congressman, Al-Shabaab has recruited for terrorist training “dozens” of American Muslims from Minnesota, Ohio, as well as other states.
“In a number of cases, the men — including both Somali-Americans and other converts — have ended up carrying out suicide bombings or have otherwise been killed, often without their families even knowing where their sons have gone,” he said. “There has not been sufficient cooperation from mosque leaders. In at least one instance, a Minnesota imam told the desperate family of a missing young man not to cooperate with the FBI.”
King came under fire during his past hearing for “stoking Islamaphobia.” Nonetheless, the congressman has not swayed from his goal to keep the country safe from the threat of radical Islamic terrorism. (King calls for immediate FBI probe into alleged hacking of 9/11 victims’ phones)
“This coordinated and ongoing recruitment and radicalization of young Muslim men in the U.S. is a serious and growing threat to our homeland security and simply cannot be ignored,” he said.