House Republican Mike Pompeo: Failure Of U.S. Muslim Leaders To Repudiate Terrorism Makes Them “Potentially Complicit” In Terror Attacks

From The Hill:

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) on Tuesday said the failure of Muslim leaders to repudiate acts of terrorism done in the name of Islam makes them “potentially complicit” in these attacks. 

“When the most devastating terrorist attacks on America in the last 20 years come overwhelmingly from people of a single faith and are performed in the name of that faith, a special obligation falls on those that are the leaders of that faith,” Pompeo said on the House floor. 

“Instead of responding, silence has made these Islamic leaders across America potentially complicit in these acts, and more importantly still, in those that may well follow.” 

Pompeo said a religion that claims to be one of peace must “reject violence that is perpetrated in its name.” However, he said that while many Muslims oppose terrorist attacks against the U.S., many mosques and many Muslim leaders across the country are not taking a stand on terrorist violence. 

“[T]he silence in the face of extremism coming from the best-funded Islamic advocacy organizations and many mosques across America is absolutely deafening,” he said. “It casts down upon the commitment to peace by adherents to the Muslim faith.”