During third Muslim Radicalization hearing Rep King addresses media over Norway attacks

On Wednesday, July 27, 2011, the Committee on Homeland Security held the third in a series of hearings on domestic radicalization entitled “Al Shabaab: Recruitment and Radicalization within the Muslim American Community and the Threat to the Homeland.”

Prior to concluding the opening comments Rep. Peter King, the Chairman of the committee, addressed the media including the NY Times regarding the Norway killings.

As noted in the embedded video:

Peter King:

Finally, I note that certain elements of the politically correct media most egregiously the vacuous ideologues at the New York Times are shamelessly attempting to exploit the horrific tragedy in Norway this past Friday to cause me to refocus these hearings away from Muslim-American radicalization.

If they had even a semblance of intellectual honesty the Times and the others would know and admit that there is no equivalency in the threat to our homeland from a deranged gunman and the international terror apparatus of al Qaeda and its affiliates such as al-Shabaab who are recruiting people in this country and have murdered thousands of Americans in their jihad attacks.

Chairman King continued:

Let me make this clear to the New York Times and their acolytes in the politically correct, moral equivalency media: I will not back down from holding these hearings, I will continue to hold these hearings so long as I am the Chairman of this committee.

Apart from all the strategic and moral reasons why these hearings are vital to our security, they are also liberating and empowering to the many Muslim Americans who have been intimidated by leaders in their own communities and are now willing and able to come forward.

I also owe it to all the friends, neighbors, and constituents I lost on September 11th. I will not back down.