Rep. Ellison Responds To Threat In ISIS Propaganda
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The first Muslim elected to Congress, Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, had strong words Wednesday for ISIS after the terror group threatened him and other Muslims in western politics with torture and death.
Using an acronym for the jihadist group based on the Arabic original, the Democratic congressman called the Islamic State a collection of liars, murderers, torturers, and rapists.
"The fact that I'm on Daesh's bad side means I am fighting for things like justice, tolerance, and a more inclusive world," Ellison said in a statement.
According to New York Daily News, Ellison and longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin were singled out in a propaganda magazine as apostates working in the politics of nonbelievers.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was quoted as saying that if they and others are caught before repenting, there'll face a painful and fatal punishment.
"Global terrorism is something affecting everyone," said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations Minnesota.
The National Director of CAIR, also from Minnesota, was not named but was pictured. Hussein calls the two "prominent figures of the American Muslim population."
"When you continue to challenge those who try to hijack our faith, we will come at the crossfire of their efforts," Hussein said.
Below is Ellison's full statement:
As millions of faithful Muslims flee Daesh's imposed nightmare they call a 'caliphate', Daesh takes the time to threaten Muslim public servants in the West, like myself and my friend Huma Abedin. Daesh is a collection of liars, murderers, torturers, and rapists. No Muslim I know recognizes what they preach as Al-Islam.
The fact that I'm on Daesh's bad side means I am fighting for things like justice, tolerance, and a more inclusive world.
