(Daily Caller) Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas spoke at an Oct. 18-20 anti-hate event that also featured a man whose organization has in the past defended terrorist acts.
The group, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), has previously made statements minimizing terrorist attacks and advocating for prominent terrorist organizations to no longer be considered terrorist groups.
Salam Al-Marayati, MPAC’s president and co-founder, spoke at the event that marked three years since the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue massacre. Al-Marayati served on the Homeland Security Advisory Committee’s (HSAC) Foreign Fighter Task Force, as well as the HSAC Subcommittee on Faith-Based Security and Communications during the Obama administration.
During a panel at the Pittsburgh anti-hate event, Al-Marayati mentioned a 2015 White House event that received pushback for inviting him to an event on countering extremism. Al-Marayati said he was accused at the time of being a “terrorist.”
