Little Falls school officials say they have written assurances from the Central Minnesota Tea Party that there will be no harassment or religious disparagement at their event Monday.
The Tea Party meeting will be held at the Little Falls High School, and features speaker Brigitte Gabriel, head of ACT! for America, which says it works to alert Americans of "the threats of radical Islam."
Hearing about the guest speaker, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) had asked the district to keep Gabriel from speaking at the school because of her previous public comments against the religion, including saying in 2006 that "Islam is the real enemy." Such statements at a school would violate district's policies, the group said.
Even though the school district now says that event organizers have given assurances that there will not be violation of school policies prohibiting harassment and religious disparagement, CAIR Minnesota officials are skeptical.
In a statement, CAIR-MN Executive Director Lori Saroya said:
We welcome the assurance that this extremist anti-Muslim speaker will adhere to district policies prohibiting harassment and religious disparagement, but we need to know what actions will be taken if the policies are violated.
She said said CAIR-MN will monitor the event and will consider filing a federal complaint against the school district if the policies are violated.
