Joint Statement on Meeting with FBI Director Robert Mueller

Joint Statement on Meeting with FBI Director Robert Mueller

Washington, DC | www.adc.org| February 15, 2012 -- In a continuing effort to address concerns related to inflammatorytraining material, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recentlymet with community and interfaith organizations to provide an update onsteps taken by the agency to rectify the matter. On Wednesday, February 8, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the Arab American Institute (AAI), Interfaith Alliance, the Islamic Society ofNorth America (ISNA), Muflehun, the Muslim Public Affairs Council(MPAC), the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), andthe Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign had an opportunity to discuss thematter with the Public Affairs Office of the FBI. Director RobertMueller joined the meeting to discuss these matters with the representatives from the organizations.  

Theconversation with Director Mueller centered on material used by theagency that depicts falsehoods and negative connotations of the Muslim American community. The use of the material was first uncovered by Wired Magazine in an article published on September 14, 2011. Director Mueller informed the participants that the FBI took the review of the training material very seriously, and he pursued the matter with urgency toensure that this does not occur again in the future.

Abed Ayoub, ADC Legal Director, stated, “The steps taken by the FBI in addressing this serious matter are certainly welcomed. It is our hope that the Bureau continues to engage with stakeholders in addressing all issues of concern, and continues to work towards resolving theseconcerns.”

The Director also informed participants that to date, nearly all related FBI training materials, including more than 160,000 pages of documents, were reviewed by subject matter experts multiple times. Consequently, more than 700 documents and 300 presentations of material have been deemed unusable by the Bureau and pulled from the training curriculum. Material was pulled from the curriculum if even one component wasdeemed to 1) include factual errors, 2)be in poor taste, 3) bestereotypical, or 4) lack precision.

The meeting also provided an opportunity to share with Director Mueller other matters of concern to community members. Issues related to privacy, including the surveillance of mosques, were discussed. It was clear to all meeting participants that the issue of trust between community members and the FBI needs to be taken seriously by all of ournation’s decision-makers. It was also evident that the Bureau must strengthen its efforts to build trust. The Director has testified before Congress about the invaluable contribution that the Muslimcommunity makes to our nation’s security, noting a recent bomb plot in Tampa, FL that was foiled thanks to a joint effort by the FBI and thelocal Muslim community.

The changes proposed by the FBI to the training modules are a welcomed first step in ensuring that such a mistake does not occur again in the future. The group asked the FBI Director to issue a formal statement on this matter acknowledging the negative impact of these trainingmaterials on the Muslim community. Representatives from the community and interfaith organizations also stressed the importance oftransparency by the Bureau in dealing with these matters, and suggestedthat a committee of community leaders and experts be assembled to reviewtraining material issued by the FBI. Meeting participants requestedthat the training process be open and transparent moving forward, andrequested future meetings with Director Mueller to continue the conversation.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), which is non-profit, non-sectarian and non-partisan, is the largest grassroots Arab-American civil rights and civil liberties organization in the United States. It was founded in 1980 by former Senator James Abourezk. ADC has a national network of chapters and members in all 50 states.