At the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Mayor Mohamed Khairullah was previously detained by law enforcement and questioned for three hours. The US Secret Service claimed that it prevented the mayor of Prospect Park, New Jersey, a Muslim community, from attending a late-night gathering at the White House to commemorate the completion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The US Secret Service claimed that it prevented the mayor of Prospect Park, New Jersey, a Muslim community, from attending a late-night gathering at the White House to commemorate the completion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. According to the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, shortly before Mayor Mohamed Khairullah was scheduled to arrive at the White House for the Eid-al-Fitr celebration, he received a call from the White House informing him that he had not been cleared for entry by the Secret Service and could not attend the celebration where Biden made remarks to hundreds of guests.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the US Secret Service, said that Khairullah was denied access to the White House compound but would not say why. In January, Khairullah won re-election as mayor of the borough for a seventh time.
Guglielmi issued a statement saying, “We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused, but the mayor was not permitted to enter the White House complex this evening.” We regret that we are unable to provide any additional information regarding the precise protective measures and procedures employed to carry out our security activities at the White House. CAIR-NJ executive director Selaedin Maksut referred to the action as “wholly unacceptable and insulting.”
What is happening to Muslims who do not have the access and visibility that the mayor does, if such occurrences are occurring to prominent and well-respected American-Muslim people like Mayor Khairullah? said Maksut. According to Dina Sayedahmed, a spokesman for CAIR-NJ, Khairullah, who has previously performed humanitarian work in Bangladesh and Syria, was stopped by officials and questioned for three hours about whether he knew any terrorists at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
The group said Khairullah attended an event in the New Jersey governor’s home over the weekend and assisted the New Jersey Democratic Party in gathering the names of local Muslim leaders to invite to the White House Eid celebration.
The White House chose not to respond.