COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Council on American-Islamic Relations announced Thursday that an anti-Muslim group has allegedly been spying on Muslim organizations for years.
Officials said they uncovered a years-long attempt by the group known as the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) to spy on nearly a dozen prominent mosques and Muslim-American organizations, including CAIR.
CAIR-Ohio announced the firing of its executive and legal director, Romin Iqbal, on Dec. 14. Leaders accuse him of spying on the organization on behalf of the IPT.
"When organizations are advocating for justice and doing good, you can’t stop them, so what you try to do is find out what they’re doing, and you try to undermine them,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director for CAIR. “That is what IPT and Mr. Emerson were trying to do, and they failed. We have uncovered their plot, and we are taking all actions possible to make sure that they can never do this to another Muslim organization in this country.”
In a press briefing Thursday, CAIR officials on the national level said the anti-Muslim organization was attempting to infiltrate and spy on Muslim groups and mosques across the country. They say their investigation revealed two other potential spies, not tied to CAIR, along with Iqbal.
They say they first received this information last year. They launched a third-party investigation, led by Horton Innovations. Iqbal was identified as a possible spy for IPT this past spring. That information was then passed along to CAIR-Ohio, which reviewed the evidence and conducted its own investigation. Eventually, Iqbal was suspended. The CAIR-Ohio Columbus-Cincinnati board passed a proposal to terminate him on Dec. 11, and he was informed of his firing on Dec. 14.
“This really struck at the heart of the work that we do,” said Lena Masri, general counsel for CAIR. “This news was very difficult for everyone across the network, especially at the Ohio office, to even grasp, and I think a lot of us are still processing the extent of the betrayal that was committed by Roman Iqbal.”
Iqbal is accused of providing private information, including secret recordings of meetings, to the IPT since 2008, but they are unsure of how that information was being used.
CAIR-Ohio also filed a report with the Hilliard Division of Police after a package containing AR-15 replacement parts was discovered at the CAIR-Ohio Columbus office Monday night.
Hilliard police on Thursday said there is no criminal investigation taking place at this time.
“Although there have been no direct or indirect threats made against CAIR, it’s a priority to ensure all our residents feel safe,” police said in a statement. “We will continue to work closely with CAIR and partnering law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety of its employees, as well as members of the Hilliard Muslim community.
Whitney Siddiqi, CAIR-Ohio’s community affairs director, said the organization can’t be sure Iqbal made the weapons purchases, but she claims Iqbal is the only one who had access to the card at the time.
You can watch the full press briefing below:
10TV reached out to Iqbal’s attorney, who did not have a comment.
10TV also reached out to IPT. The organization’s statement did not address the questions asked or Iqbal’s termination.