Anti-Islam speaker's talk at Bagley High School raises alarm

A speaker scheduled to deliver a talk Tuesday night titled the "Global Islamic Movement" at Bagley High School is facing some opposition.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minnesota is calling for the high school to cancel the 6:15 p.m. speech, saying it may create a perception that the public high school is endorsing the speaker, John Guandolo, who has been called a "notorious Muslim-basher and conspiracy theorist" by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The event, listed on a web page calendar for the radio station QFM, said Guandolo's presentation "will review the threat and the jihadi network in the U.S. and Minnesota, but will focus on the cooperation between the hard-left/Marxist Movement and the Jihadi Movement in the U.S. and practical actions citizens can take to defend their communities and take back ground."

CAIR-MN argues Guandolo has a right to speak but shouldn't be allowed to do it at "a taxpayer-funded academic institution," Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said in a news release.

It is unclear who is sponsoring the event.

A call to the radio station was not returned. A call and e-mail to the district superintendent were not returned.

Guandolo said in an e-mail to the Star Tribune that he will be speaking in Bagley tonight. He criticized CAIR, alleging the group has ties to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.