ACT for America

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ACT for America
Founded2007; 17 years ago (2007)
FounderBrigitte Gabriel
Type501(c)(3) organization
Location
  • Washington D.C
Websitewww.actforamerica.org Edit this at Wikidata
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ACT for America, founded in 2007, is a U.S.-based anti-Muslim[1][2][3][4] advocacy group that opposes what it calls "the threat of radical Islam" to Americans.[5]

Critics of the group, including the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Center for American Progress, describe it as a hate group. It has been called the U.S.'s largest anti-Muslim organization.[2][6] Since 2017, the group has organized rallies in support of Donald Trump.[7][8]

Activities and views[edit]

The group's founder and central figure is the Lebanese-American conservative activist Brigitte Gabriel, a Maronite Catholic.[5][9] Guy Rodgers, a Republican consultant who was National Field Director for the Christian Coalition of America in the 1990s, is executive director.[9][5] The group was established in 2007, and grew out of the American Congress for Truth, which Gabriel established in 2002 to promote her beliefs, books, and public appearance. The American Congress for Truth was later renamed Act! for America Education and "continues to operate as a separate non-profit tax-exempt organization".[5]

Anti-Muslim activities[edit]

Political scientist Nadia Marzouki identified ACT for America as part of an "echo chamber of Islamophobic misinformation".[4] The group has been described as anti-Muslim by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, Buzzfeed News and the Independent,[1][2][3] and a hate group by the Center for American Progress[10] and the Southern Poverty Law Center.[11] The Anti-Defamation League states that the "ACT stokes irrational fear of Muslims" through spreading misinformation and that it "propagates the hateful conspiracy theory" that there is a Muslim plot to impose Islamic law in the U.S.[12] The organization has been considered a part of the counter-jihad movement.[13]

The Huffington Post, linking to a report by the Center for American Progress,[14] described ACT for America as "a central player in the movement to generate fears about Islamic Sharia law".[9] The report describes the organization as a "single-minded Islamophobia [group]".[15] Ryan Lenz of the Southern Poverty Law Center criticized the group as having "eagerly tapped into a groundswell of anti-Muslim rage and done what it could to fan the flames".[16]

According to The New York Times, the conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney, "a hawkish policy analyst and commentator, who has been known to take polarizing positions", described the group as a "force multiplier" in promoting laws proposed by David Yerushalmi.[17] ACT members have introduced Yerushalmi's anti-foreign law bill (also known as anti-Sharia bill) in several state legislatures,[9] accompanying it with "a public outreach blitz about the 'threat' of Sharia to America".[9] Gabriel has promoted the belief that there is an Islamic conspiracy in the United States, stating that "tens of thousands of Islamic militants now reside in America operating in sleeper cells, attending our colleges and universities, even infiltrating our government" and asserting that radicalized Muslims "have infiltrated us at the CIA, at the FBI, at the Pentagon, at the State Department".[5]

ACT has lobbied state and federal officials, seeking "to impact national security policy".[9] These officials include U.S. Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York, who appeared on ACT's "internet television show before hosting a series of hearings on radicalization that singled out Muslims in 2011".[9] It once counted former U. S. National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn as a member of its board;[18] Flynn has criticized Islam in ways similar to ACT, such as that the Muslim faith itself is one of the root causes of Islamist terrorism;[19] that Islam as a political ideology rather than a religion;[19] that it is a malignant cancer;[20] and that "fear of Muslims is rational".[21] The group has published voter guides and congressional scorecards, and as of 2014 employed a full-time congressional lobbyist, Lisa Piraneo, who is the group's director of government relations.[5]

In an e-mail distributed in July 2011, the group stated: "ACT! for America does not believe, nor advocate, that all Muslims are engaged in stealth jihad. ACT! for America does not believe, nor advocate, that all Muslims 'must be stopped'."[16] The Southern Poverty Law Center, called this a "whitewash" and in reply quoted statements from founder Brigitte Gabriel:

If a Muslim who has—who is—a practicing Muslim who believes the word of the Koran to be the word of Allah, who abides by Islam, who goes to mosque and prays every Friday, who prays five times a day—this practicing Muslim, who believes in the teachings of the Koran, cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America.[16]

The Anti-Defamation League writes that while ACT's leadership denies holding bigoted views, "the group often argues against the distinction between radical and mainstream Islam".[22] According to the ADL, ACT had posted an article on its website titled "Stop Muslim immigration to the United States" and has promoted a petition demanding that the U.S. "stop all immigration into free countries by Muslims while we can" because "WE HAVE NO way of determining which Muslims subscribe to pure Islam. The reason this matters is that pure Islam is seditious".[22]

A spokesman for the group at a 2016 town meeting near Missoula, Montana promoted conspiracy theories that Muslim immigrants were importing Islamic law into the U.S.[23]

March Against Sharia[edit]

After an anti-Islamic white supremacist killed two intervening bystanders in a May 2017 metro train attack on a young woman in a hijab and her teenage black companion, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler asked the federal government to deny a permit for a "Trump Free Speech Rally" at Terry Schrunk Plaza, a federal enclave adjacent to city hall,[24] tweeting that the rally could "only exacerbate an already difficult situation" in the city,[25] and called for withholding a permit for an ACT for America rally at the same location.[25]

ACT for America subsequently cancelled its planned June 10 anti-Muslim March Against Sharia in Portland, moving it to Seattle.[26][27] The Seattle Times described the rally's stated goal as "purportedly to raise awareness of the practices of genital mutilation and cutting of young girls and women, which the organization attributes to the practice of Sharia law by faithful Muslims".[28][29] Despite the group's claim that female genital mutilation (FGM) is a solely religious practice, the Anti-Defamation League noted that FGM is not sanctioned or even mentioned in the Quran or Sharia law.[30]

ACT for America demonstrators in New York City, Chicago, Santa Clara, Seattle, and other cities were outnumbered by counter-protesters.[31][32][33] The marches were also attended by right-wing extremist groups such as militia members and white supremacists.[30] Demonstrators in front of Trump Tower Chicago also expressed support for President Donald Trump.[31][32]

Membership[edit]

The group describes itself as a nonpartisan and nonreligious national security group and its base of support comes from "evangelical Christian conservatives, hard-line defenders of Israel (both Jews and Christians) and Tea Party Republicans".[34] In 2011, the group said it had "500 chapters and 155,000 members nationwide".[22]

In 2015, Jordan Denari and Nathan Lean of Georgetown University's Bridge Initiative research project wrote that ACT for America "boasts nearly 300,000 members and 890 chapters across the country".[9] Reporting by The Independent and The Guardian has referred to the group as the largest anti-Muslim group in the U.S.[2][6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Florida's Ron DeSantis spoke to group whose founder says devout Muslims can't be loyal Americans". USA TODAY. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Buncombe, Andrew (August 22, 2017). "US's largest anti-Muslim group cancels 67 rallies after seeing size of anti-fascist crowd in Boston". The Independent. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Allam, Hannah; Ansari, Talal (April 10, 2018). "State And Local Republican Officials Have Been Bashing Muslims. We Counted". BuzzFeed News.
  4. ^ a b Marzouki, Nadia (2017). Islam: An American Religion. Cambridge University Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0231176804. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Profile: ACT! for America" (PDF). Anti-Defamation League. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 29, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  6. ^ a b Mulhall, Joe (February 2, 2017). "It's not just Trump's US. Anti-Muslim hate threatens Europe too". The Guardian.
  7. ^ "ACT for America cancels pro-Trump rallies planned for Sept. 9 in 36 states". syracuse.com. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  8. ^ CNYCentral. "Syracuse denies permit request for group planning 'America First Rally'". WSTM. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Lean, Nathan (August 12, 2015). "Hirsi Ali Teams Up With Act for America for Event on Islam". Huffington Post. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  10. ^ Ali (2011), p. 63.
  11. ^ "ACT for America". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  12. ^ "ACT for America". Anti-Defamation League. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  13. ^ Mulhall, Joe (2021). Drums In The Distance: Journeys Into the Global Far Right. Icon. p. 37. ISBN 9781785787522.
  14. ^ Ali, Wajahat; et al. (August 2011). Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America (PDF) (Report). Center for American Progress. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  15. ^ Ali (2011), p. 64.
  16. ^ a b c Lenz, Ryan (August 24, 2011). "Acting Out". Intelligence Report. Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  17. ^ Elliott, Andrea (July 30, 2011). "The Man Behind the Anti-Shariah Movement". The New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  18. ^ "Trump adviser joins ACT for America's board". IMAGINE 2050. June 28, 2016. Archived from the original on May 9, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  19. ^ a b Rosenberg, Matthew; Haberman, Maggie (November 17, 2016). "Trump Is Said to Offer National Security Post to Michael Flynn, Retired General". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  20. ^ Mangla, Ismat Sarah. "Islam is a 'malignant cancer': The hateful rhetoric of Trump's new national security adviser". Quartz. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  21. ^ Khan, Mariam (November 18, 2016). "Trump's National Security Adviser Has Called Islam 'a Cancer'". ABC News. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  22. ^ a b c "Backgrounder: ACT! for America". Anti-Defamation League. March 25, 2011. Archived from the original on June 13, 2013.
  23. ^ Meraji, Shereen M. (October 17, 2016). "Refugee Resettlement Evokes Fear, Debate In Montana". All Things Considered. NPR.
  24. ^ Bellisle, Martha (May 30, 2017). "Portland Mayor Wants 'Trump Free Speech Rally' Canceled over Fears of 'Hatred'". Time. {{cite magazine}}: Unknown parameter |agency= ignored (help)
  25. ^ a b Parks, Bradley W. (May 29, 2017). "Portland Mayor Calls for Shutdown of 'Trump Free Speech,' Anti-Muslim Rallies". Oregon Public Broadcasting.
  26. ^ Organizers: Anti-Muslim rally planned for Portland moved to Seattle, KOMO (May 31, 2017).
  27. ^ Noelle Crombie, Anti-Muslim march organizers cancel June 10 event in Portland, citing mayor's comments, The Oregonian/OregonLive (May 31, 2017).
  28. ^ Carter, Mike (June 8, 2017). "Seattle police prepare for Saturday's 'March Against Sharia' and counterprotest". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  29. ^ Moses, Sarah (June 8, 2017). "'Anti-Sharia law' march planned for Syracuse; counter rallies organize". Syracuse.com. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  30. ^ a b "ACT for America". Anti-Defamation League. 2017. Archived from the original on March 14, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  31. ^ a b Siddiqui, Sabrina (June 10, 2017). "Anti-Muslim rallies across US denounced by civil rights groups". The Guardian. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  32. ^ a b Johnson, Gene (June 10, 2017). "Rallies Against Sharia Law Draw Counter-Protests". Time. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 10, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  33. ^ Ravani, Sarah (June 10, 2017). "Anti-Muslim law protesters meet opposition at Santa Clara rally". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  34. ^ Goodstein, Laurie (March 7, 2011). "Drawing U.S. Crowds With Anti-Islam Message". New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
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