Speaker from organization designated as hate group talks about refugees at WV Capitol

The House of Delegates committee on veterans affairs and homeland security invited a speaker from an anti-Muslim organization, designated as a hate group, to speak on refugee resettlement during a committee meeting Wednesday.

Brenda Arthur represented American Congress for Truth, an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as the nation’s largest anti-Muslim hate group. The Southern Poverty Law Center is an Alabama-based organization that tracks hate groups and their activity.

Arthur said she was concerned about public safety and state money being spent on refugees during most of the approximate half hour that she spoke, until Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, noted that the organization had been designated as a hate group and asked her if she would support resettlement of Muslim refugees if she was satisfied with the vetting process, and if no state funds went to any refugees.

“There are problems with that distinct group,” she responded, referring to adherents of Islam, a religion of about 1.6 billion.

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