Muslim advocates say police workshops malign their faith, call for end to training by group

By Matt Sedensky | TheRepublic.com | July 11, 2012 | [Original Article]

"WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Muslim advocates say workshops held for police around the state are denigrating their faith.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations and a number of smaller groups say training led by Sam Kharoba of the Cape Coral-based Counter Terrorism Operations Center maligns the Prophet Muhammad, spreads mistruths about Islam and makes sweeping generalizations about the religion.

They're calling on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to end trainings led by Kharoba. FDLE says it will review the Muslim groups' concerns.

Kharoba says the claims are "manufactured distractions" and that his training "is based on historical facts found in the most respected and authentic Islamic religious texts."

He says he's trained about 20,000 law enforcement officers around the country in the last decade and that the vast majority gave positive feedback."
(Story distributed by The Associated Press)