Lansing — U.S. Rep. John James, a Republican who’s running to be Michigan’s next governor, has been engaged in a days-long dispute with a Muslim civil rights group and has vowed to label it a terrorist organization.
The feud started after James of Shelby Township appeared on Newsmax last week and was asked about video footage of people participating in a procession in Dearborn marking the Shia religious observance of Ashura.
“I didn’t go and fight extremists to have them on our doorstep here,” said James, an Iraq War Army veteran, during the interview.
On Thursday, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations or CAIR condemned the remarks.
“We condemn James’ misguided comparison of peaceful Americans expressing their First Amendment right of freedom of assembly to violent extremists which he claimed to fight against while he proudly served in an unjust, immoral war in Iraq,” said Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR-MI. “James, in comments, joins others in a bigoted framework that posits Muslims by default as extremists unless proven otherwise.”
Walid also noted that the Shia procession in Dearborn marked the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Husayn.
A day later, James vowed to designate CAIR a terrorist organization if he becomes Michigan’s next governor. His campaign labeled CAIR “a radical extremist group” and said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had made the same designation.
“Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, I will fiercely defend your religious liberty and the right of every Michigander to peacefully practice their faith or not to practice at all,” James said. “As governor, I will not tolerate extremists who threaten our way of life.
“If you come to America, you must obey our laws, you must assimilate into our culture, you must embrace the Constitution and you must pledge allegiance to the United States of America; or you will go home.”
James, a second-term member of the U.S. House, is one of three Republicans seeking their party’s nomination for governor in the Aug. 4 primary election. The others are former Attorney General Mike Cox of Livonia and businessman Perry Johnson of Bloomfield Hills.
Michigan’s current governor, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, can’t run again this year because of term limits.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: John James clashes with Muslim rights group ahead of Michigan primary
Reporting by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Craig Mauger, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
