(WASHINGTON D.C., 9/14/2022) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations today thanked the Macon County, N.C. Sheriff’s Office for clarifying that it was not the law enforcement agency that used a stereotypical image of a man wearing a Palestinian headscarf (keffiyeh) and holding an AK-47-style assault weapon in an active shooter training for public school students and staff.
The image appeared in an Aug. 31 segment on WLOS ABC News 13 which covered a training conducted at Rosman Middle and Rosman High School “for any kind of active threat,” including the “threat of a gunman.”
CAIR emailed a letter to the Macon County Sheriff’s Office on Sep. 7 thanking them for conducting the training but expressing concern about the inaccurate and harmful use of the stereotypical image. CAIR sent a follow-up message today, Sept 14. The sheriff’s office responded to CAIR’s letter today to disavow the use of such an image and say that they were not the agency responsible for its use.
In a statement, CAIR said:
“We thank the Macon County Sheriff’s Office for responding today to our Sep. 7th letter and explaining that a different law enforcement agency was responsible for the school shooter training that used an unacceptable and racially charged image, and we apologize to the Sheriff for the misidentification. We thank the Sheriff for emphasizing that his agency has never and would never be involved in such inappropriate training.”
“We have identified the local agency that allegedly hosted this training, and we plan to also give them the opportunity to privately address this issue before publicly identifying them.”
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]