The Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy has announced today it will withdraw accreditation for a three-day training scheduled in Culpepper County, Va., led by anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist John Guandolo. The training is scheduled to begin Tuesday and about 50 officers are registered to attend.
The statement reads:
After careful consideration and consultation with other law enforcement agencies and academies, having firsthand knowledge of this training, the Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy will no longer be offering Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services in-service training credit for the upcoming seminar “Understanding and Investigating Jihadi Networks in America.”
“The Academy has apologized to those law enforcement agencies and personnel affected by this decision and will work to ensure those officers receive the in-service training credits necessary and relevant to their positions.”
Guandolo has a long history of anti-Muslim activism. After leaving the FBI amid allegations of inappropriate conduct, he began making the rounds as a counterterrorism consultant and trainer. As the vice president of the Strategic Engagement Group, he argued against the establishment of a Tennessee mosque in 2011, saying Muslims “do not have a First Amendment right to do anything.”
Last year, he helped the anti-Muslim grassroots organization ACT! for America launch The Thin Blue Line Project, an online resource purported to assist law endorsement agencies fighting extremism and rid training materials of “suffocating political correctness” and Muslim bias.