Texas law enforcement agency rescinds accreditation for anti-Muslim figure
John Guandolo, a聽聽with a history of promoting anti-Muslim bigotry as part of his law enforcement training seminars, just lost another customer.聽
On May 16, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) rescinded the law enforcement accreditation it previously afforded to Guandolo, after reviewing a presentation he gave at a law enforcement conference on May 4 in San Angelo, Texas, which it found to be 鈥渃oncerning鈥� and of 鈥渘o training value.鈥�
The decision by TCOLE, a state regulatory agency overseeing law enforcement training curriculum, comes after several civil rights groups聽聽about Guandolo鈥檚 anti-Muslim hate group, Understanding the Threat (UTT). These organizations, including Muslim Advocates and the 澳彩开奖, wrote a聽聽requesting TCOLE rescind UTT鈥檚 law enforcement accreditation.
The move by Texas authorities follows similar findings by law enforcement agencies in Colorado, Kansas, Ohio, and Virginia, which have re-evaluated their decision to allow personnel to attend UTT seminars, in some cases deciding to offer no credit for training provided by UTT.聽聽聽
Since founding UTT after his resignation from the FBI, Guandolo鈥檚 so-called 鈥渢eachings鈥� have been nothing more than a litany of conspiracy theories and anti-Muslim bigotry, saying that all Muslim groups in America 鈥渟hare the same ideology as ISIS鈥� and intend to 鈥渙verthrow America and establish Islamic law.鈥� He has falsely claimed that Muslim Student Associations at colleges and universities across the country are 鈥減oints of recruitment in America for the Muslim Brotherhood and jihad.鈥�
Guandolo also firmly聽聽American Muslims should not be entitled to the same First Amendment rights as other US citizens,聽聽mosques should not be afforded the same constitutional protections as churches but instead treated like foreign military bases.聽聽聽聽聽聽聽
The May 16 announcement by TCOLE is the latest of several recent damaging headlines for Guandolo and UTT. A scheduled speaking tour in the Midwest imploded last April聽after multiple cancellations. Last March, Guandolo聽falsely claimed聽on Twitter that a Southwest Airlines employee was a 鈥渏ihadi,鈥� which drew a firm聽聽from the airline. In 2017, Guandolo got in a physical altercation with a Minnesota sheriff at a law enforcement conference in Reno, Nevada, which led to a聽聽against him.
Muslim Advocates applauded the decision by TCOLE, releasing a statement which said, in part: 鈥淭hese events have no training value and, in fact, undermine the ability of law enforcement officers to do their jobs effectively鈥COLE鈥檚 actions today send an important message to other law enforcement agencies that Guandolo鈥檚 seminars are dangerous and should be rejected.鈥澛�
