CINCINNATI — The local Columbus-Cincinnati Board of Directors for the Ohio Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) announced it fired the group’s executive director Tuesday after an investigation allegedly found repeated cases of professional and ethical violations.
According to CAIR-Ohio, the investigation found that Executive and Legal Director Romin Iqbal recorded meetings for years and sent them to a known anti-Muslim hate group, which they said they will not be identifying. CAIR-Ohio said that after Iqbal was confronted with the allegations, he admitted that he had been secretly working with the anti-Muslim hate group.
“We were shocked and saddened to learn about this betrayal and incredible violation of trust. Our first priority is the safety and security of our community. We are now even more committed to defending and protecting Ohio Muslims from the anti-Muslim extremists who will clearly stop at nothing to try to harm us.” said Nabeel Raazi, Columbus-Cincinnati Board Chair for CAIR-Ohio.
In wake of the termination, the Columbus office of CAIR-Ohio also discovered suspicious purchases from ammunition and gun retailers conducted in recent weeks using a CAIR-Ohio credit card administered by Iqbal. Staff also found a suspicious package mailed to the Columbus office containing parts for an AR-15 rifle. The discoveries were reported to law enforcement, which CAIR-Ohio said is currently being investigated.
CAIR-Ohio is encouraging the Ohio Muslim community to exercise vigilance and review their security protocols out of an abundance of caution.
“Civil rights organizations and movements for justice have been spied upon from within for decades. In particular, Muslim organizations have been the target of malicious surveillance attempts due to a continuous rise in Islamophobia over the past two decades,” said Lina Abbaoui, the Columbus-Cincinnati acting legal director for CAIR-Ohio.
Amina Barhumi will serve as acting executive director. A press conference is slated for 10 a.m. for more details.
