Muslim civil rights group accepts invite to W.Va. Capitol

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The nation’s largest Muslim civil rights organization says it has accepted an invitation from West Virginia lawmakers to visit the state capitol in the wake of an Islamophobic display outside the House of Delegates chamber.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations made the announcement Wednesday in a statement that didn’t indicate when the visit would take place.

Wayne County Democrat Ken Hicks wrote a March 8 letter signed by other delegates to CAIR national board chair Roula Allouch extending the invitation.

A poster falsely connected a U.S. congresswoman to the 2001 U.S. terrorist attacks and was part of a group’s March 1 display during the legislature’s “GOP Day.” The poster bore an image of the burning World Trade Center juxtaposed with a picture of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American and one of the first Muslim congresswomen ever elected.