The group consists of Muslims, activists and others from around the state. They’re creating programs on how to cooperate with law enforcement, how to be aware of community concerns and how to prevent incidents of home grown terrorism.   Participants will include Imam Mohamed Al Darsani from the Islamic Center for Peace in Fort Myers.  He said there is tremendous ignorance in the law enforcement community about the Muslim community.

“You talk to a lot of law enforcement people some of them never met a Muslim in his life.  And they think all Muslims are alike and some of them believe Islam teaches violence and terrorism and this kind of things. And they approach the community from that perspective which is very wrong. And this misunderstanding and mistrust between these two communities must disappear,” said Al Darsani.

After the meeting the Muslim Congress members can begin to help educate their communities on how to cooperate with law enforcement and how to identify any abuses that may occur, said Darsani.

Al Darsani said a similar meeting with law enforcement agencies from southwest Florida will take place in April.