Republican Activist Poses Anti-Muslim Resolution to Ban Islamic Leaders From Minnesota Politics
A Republican activist in a Minnesota suburb introduced a resolution to his precinct caucus that would forbid any Islamic leader, religious or otherwise, from delivering an invocation at any Republican convention or event.
The resolution, introduced by grassroots activist Jeff Baumann on Tuesday evening, also asks that “affirmative and ongoing actions be taken to minimize and eliminate the influence of Islam within the Minnesota Republican Party or its subunits.” It also called for Islam’s influence to be generally minimized within the state and particularly curbed in Minnesota schools.
The resolution was introduced in the Coon Rapids area of Minnesota, one of the state’s more than 4,000 precincts. It is unclear what the ruling will be, but a local Republican leader said that the part of the resolution pertaining to invocations can only be decided by the Republican Party chairperson.
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Caucus 2018 Resolution Minimizing Influence of Islam Baumann by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
Baumann is a well-known anti-Islam activist in Minnesota and has spoken against building mosques in the state.
An estimated 200,000 Muslims live in Minnesota, many of whom are ethnic Somalis. The state also took in Muslim refugees from Bosnia, and it has experienced Islamophobic backlash in the past.
Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has said that Somali refugees are destroying Minnesota’s culture.
“This is a failed multicultural experiment that is killing people and destroying the future of the West,” Bachmann said last year.
Phillip Parrish, a Republican candidate for governor in Minnesota, recently refused to meet with a Muslim community leader, saying that “Islam is ultimately not a faith.”
“I separate Islam from the word faith because faith takes belief and Islam requires only submission. I will not participate in any faith dialog because Islam is ultimately not a faith,” Parrish said.
Most recently, two Minnesota Republican legislators were criticized for circulating a Facebook post alleging that Muslims were planning to infiltrate Minnesota's precinct caucuses.
