Commissioner’s Remarks, Slides Draw Ire

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Muslim group wants Kansas political and religious leaders to repudiate views expressed by Sedgwick County Commissioner Karl Peterjohn at a county commission meeting.

The Kansas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Thursday condemned the Republican commissioner’s remarks a day earlier saying he was providing “a public warning for citizens.” Peterjohn put on a slide show at the session of people named “Mohammed,” or some derivation of that name, who committed crimes.

Commissioners also passed on a 4-1 vote two resolutions offering condolences to Russia and France for the recent attacks, while condemning U.S. leaders for not calling them “Islamic terrorism.”

CAIR spokesman Moussa Elbayoumy says people are concerned about a crescendo of calls from mostly Republican politicians racing to see who is more bigoted than the other.