On November 1, 2013, the Oklahoma Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET) recruited prominent Islamophobes Frank Gaffney, Clare Lopez, and Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William G. “ Jerry” Boykin to give a one-day counter-terrorism training seminar to law enforcement officers at the State Capital.
Gaffney, Lopez, and Boykin are three of the leading anti-Muslim conspiracy-theorists within the Islamophobia movement. They continue to claim Muslims have infiltrated the government and seek to impose Sharia law in the United States. In the past, both Gaffney and Boykin have argued that Islam should not be protected under the First Amendment. Boykin has also advocated against the existence of mosques in America.
This is not the first time anti-Muslim activists have been involved in training law enforcement professionals. ACT! for America, along with former FBI agent John Guandolo, recently released a project entitled the Thin Blue Line, which is an online resource designed to help law enforcement officers overcome “political correctness” and recognize stealth Muslim infiltration and combat “radical Islam.” Anti-Muslim blogger Robert Spencer previously lectured FBI and military personnel about the so-called threat of Islam and jihad, but was later relieved from his position.
Although officials have tried to snub out anti-Muslim extremists from teaching law enforcement about the alleged danger Muslims pose to national security, unfortunately, some agencies still remain willing to treat these individuals as experts and provide them with a platform to further fear monger and spread their anti-Muslim sentiments.